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stahlhart
Platinum Member
1318 Posts |
 Posted - 10/16/2006 : 22:05:30
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Do you have any sort of copyright issues that have to be dealt with as far as covering other artists' songs in a public place?
Does the band or the club owner(s) have to pay royalties for this? Do you just play the songs and hope no one sues you? How does this usually work in practice...?
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jack
Platinum Member
USA
1418 Posts |
Posted - 10/16/2006 : 23:03:27
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I thought I heard that Jimmy Buffett has some sort of issue with people doing his songs, and a few other artists, and get some sort of payment.
Performance-wise, I think as long as the performance is not being taped for public release, for the most part, I think there's no copyright issues. Sort of like making a mix tape or CD, technically, it is against the law, but no one really enforces it unless you are making an obscene amount of copies. Or like the Birthday song. Everyone sings happy birthday at parties, but if you wanted to make a for-public consumption cd with the birthday song on it, you would need to pay royalties.
And since when has a club owner ever paid for anything? lol. From my experience, you can't trust 2/3d's of the club owners out there, but thats a better percentage than independent pro wrestling promoters who I have dealt with as well. Seriously though, I believe that any type of royalties would have to be paid for by the band. I think if its just the party/bar/club circuit, you should be okay, but if you are in a wedding band or something, it might be an issue worth looking at in depth. |
Edited by - jack on 10/16/2006 23:07:37 |
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stahlhart
Platinum Member
1318 Posts |
Posted - 10/16/2006 : 23:11:11
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There was a story I had read recently (I'm trying to relocate it) where a club owner, I think in Seattle, is on the verge of being driven into bankruptcy from a lawsuit over the live performance of some Stevie Wonder songs. (edit: it was apparently three songs, one of them by Stevie Wonder, and the club is in Portland)
Something I remember from the article was the mention of some sort of annual fee of $2,000-3,000 to either BMI or ASCAP that a club could pay in order to give them the legal rights to play pretty much anything in the catalog. (edit: $2,000, to ASCAP)
I think that this also spills over into clubs that have karaoke -- where songs that are not in the public domain have royalties associated with their use.
I had kind of assumed that it was one of those things where they'd have to station a lawyer inside of every establishment that offered live music in order to keep it under control, and that it just more or less went on unenforced for the most part.
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Edited by - stahlhart on 10/16/2006 23:26:12 |
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stahlhart
Platinum Member
1318 Posts |
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jack
Platinum Member
USA
1418 Posts |
Posted - 10/16/2006 : 23:27:19
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Thanks for the link. I think this is one of those rare cases, however, I have heard of ASCAP narcs, as a car dealer I was doing a live radio broadcast from mentioned how another dealership he worked at had a visit from someone once regarding them playing radio broadcasts as background music as they had not paid the rights to the music. Sounds a bit far fetched, but it does happen.
However, Hendrix's estate is in the Northwest, I believe, and it sounds like someone in Hendrix's estate may have been clued into to sub-par performances of Hendrix songs, who then may have contacted ASCAP. The band in this case, I guess, is not liable because they were not the ones charging money to see music? I wonder if Black Notes is an actual band, or if they are a band that helps ASCAP do these sort of "sting" operations.
Maybe the band is affected, and the article is just talking about the effects on the club. But if the band is not also being sued, to me its like arresting someone who owns a firing range because someone used an illegal firearm on their range. Cracking down on illegal firearm useage is good, but why not go after the owner of the firearm?
I suggest a Google search, and maybe inquiring with any musicians you may know in regional cover bands to see what the specifics may be with covers. |
Edited by - jack on 10/16/2006 23:45:00 |
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diggum12
Silver Member
USA
282 Posts |
Posted - 10/17/2006 : 16:52:05
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That's interesting about Jimmy Buffett, but I doubt it's true. His restaurant "Cheeseburge In Paradise" is synonomous with his song of the same name. Every gigging musicians is expected to play that song and Margaritaville at that restaurant. I don't know if he throws a fit in other restaurants. What gets me is, play it in Mexico, Sao Paolo, Moscow or Soweto, and it's just fine. But if you play it in the USA...
ASCAP & BMI is a load of crap! |
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FRANZONI
Double Platinum Member
Ireland
3543 Posts |
Posted - 10/23/2006 : 21:37:52
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i'm gigging since i was knee high to a grasshopper and i have never heard of any live band been caught for royalties in ireland....clubs and pubs have to pay as far as i know for recorded music played on their premises....we did a gig earlier this year for cancer and larry mullen from u2 was in the audience he got up and played a couple of their numbers with us and he hasn't sent me an invoice yet...!!!!! the biggest thing here to avoid is the good ol' revenue looking to squeeze any musician either semi pro or fulltime down to the pip if they think they might be even getting the sniff of a free drink....while their masters in government would put some of the tinpot dictators in the third world to shame the way they are robbing the people here...... |
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ronster
Gold Member
Australia
645 Posts |
Posted - 10/24/2006 : 02:42:57
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Hi, I'm not sure what the US laws are but in Oz the responsibility to pay royalties lies with the venue where you perform. Venues will often then have a licence they pay for to give them the right to perform music. The tricky part is that there can be several diference licencing bodies collecting royalties for differenct artists. 
Hope that helps.
Cya
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Big Boss Man
Gold Member
USA
564 Posts |
Posted - 10/24/2006 : 03:09:14
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| I don't really gig anymore, but it would have been nice if they took a share of my net proceeds when I did. About $200 for the average gig, less about $300 for the bar tab. They would owe me thousands! |
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diggum12
Silver Member
USA
282 Posts |
Posted - 10/24/2006 : 17:21:49
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Whoa Whoa WHOA. Hold it Franzoni, Larry Mullen sat in on a gig with you? And played a couple songs? In Ireland no less?
OK, you just hijacked the thread. I'm starting a new one about "real" musicians you've played with... |
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Question For Gigging Musicians
