Legal Or Not? Options

[JusClownin]

Hi guys. Wasn't sure if this was the best forum for this, but here goes.

As a hobby, a friend and I record vocals on random instrumentals of recordings that we usually find on CD singles at the record store or on the net.

They are pretty humorous and have little or nothing to do with the artist who created the instrumental. We want to create site where we can share our renditions with the public for free. We both have full time careers and have absolutely no interest in selling these songs, not that anyone would buy them, or making profit off the site. It would be fully funded by out of our own pocket and we wouldn't have any advertisers. Just a personal site.

Does anyone know if we'd run into any legal problems by doing this? Like I said, it's just a hobby. Basically, we're just two old friends from high school that get together maybe 3 times a year, drink and have some fun jamming on these recordings. They are by far from "great" quality, but they're actually not so bad, for what it's worth.

Anyway, any input or advice would be great. I just fear having some big-wig artist or label sue us for something so trivial.

[coldharbour]

No, PE didn't get their samples cleared and payed for by the record company until the "Apocalypse '91" album.

Yes they did, everything was cleared and paid by the record company aftewards. Here's a quote from the Stay Free interview you linked :

Stay Free!: Did you have to license the samples in It Takes a Nation of Millions before it was released?

Shocklee: No, it was cleared afterwards. A lot of stuff was cleared afterwards.

The basic premise is like this: It is illegal to use samples of recordings you don't have copyright to, but if you got enough money, you can pay for the right to use them. At startingpoint, it is illegal. You can buy yourself legal.

Umm.. Would you say buying a car is "buying yourself legal" because you could have just stolen it without paying anything? Or if you go to a grocery store to buy food, is it "buying yourself legal" because you could just steal the food without paying?

What's the difference in using a sample without paying?

You could have fixed rates for samples, like 20% off the revenue of that song to be split among the sampled artists.

What's wrong with the master copyright holder dictating the price? I think fixed rates would be like someone being able to take whatever you own and just telling you "you get 20% of whatever I make". He makes a million and you get 20%, even if the whole track was based on your stuff. I don't think that's fair.

But of course (as you said) these rates can be negotiated. If you make a potential hit song there won't be difficulties in clearing any samples, because if it makes it big, everybody gains.

Where are the laws that would protect myself concerning the terms of my contract, where are the laws that would prevent them from marketing in anyway they think, even if I find it degrading for my product, where are the laws that would give me full copyright on what I want or not want to be done to my music, where are the laws that would keep them from making a fortune on my creations and myself getting a few pennies?

When you make a recording deal or a publishing deal, everything is defined in the contract. If the contract you sign and agree says you only get 0,5% royalty and the company can market your music in a "degrading way" then it's your own fault. Nobody forces you to sign any kind of lousy deals with anybody.

I remember a case where a local band had recorded a draft demo and had been  -naturally- giving it around to gather opinions and fans. Somehow it got to the hands of a greedy record company, which published it as part of a collection, after of course getting the copyright for it, which the band thought was too early to worry about... the band saw it when it actually hit the record stores and, of course, they couldn't believe their own eyes. But the law could not protect them. Shouldn't it be obvious that you have the full copyright for something you have played, recorded and produced on your own?

The company had no right whatsoever to release the song without the band's permission. I doubt this is possible anywhere in the civilized world today. They should have sued the company (they probably still can) and they would have most definately won the case.

Remeber, nobody can steal your music or do anything with it without your permission. It's your property, just like anything else you own.