Getting ripped - interesting development

[john turner]

edit (jt) : upon investigating this with amazon, this is apparently a -different- cdman, operating from michigan who is selling our cds, not the guys who replicated them.

to be honest, i'm very glad to make this discovery. cdman.com were great guys to work with with our cd replication, and i was horrified to think that they were the ones responsible for this.

i'm still pretty outraged at the fact that folks are selling our cds without our permission. the whole idea is pretty upsetting.

[baba]

"Music Attorney" used to be on here offering some free advice. Not sure whether he is still active or versed in intellectual property rights, but it may be worth a PM.

[PJMiDi]

"Music licensing is the licensed use of copyrighted music. Music licensing is intended to ensure that the creators of musical works get paid for their work. A purchaser of recorded music owns the media on which the music is stored, not the music itself. A purchaser has limited rights to use and reproduce the recorded work." Taken from SESAC's website. sounds to me like you have a legitimate complaint there, I would definitely talk to someone in the legal business about it further.

[Thor]

Are you selling CDBaby too? Or not? It is on their site.

http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/lordonly/from/garage


I note that cdman lists the CD as 'used'. That may take them off the hook. The mp3 download is probably where you can hang them though.

OTOH, there are 2 sellers selling the cd New, one in the UK and one in France.

[PJMiDi]

I really hope this gets worked out for you, its basically theft of your bands music; that is then being sold for profit... I'm not sure how long and drawn out everything could be(the legal system is full of ways to prolong itself.)but I wish you the best of luck. You deserve to be compensated for what you and your band mates produced.

[ZippyButton]

Relatively freshly minted attorney here, and music and copyright isn't my main area of expertise but here are my $.02:

- You have the exclusive right to distribute, perform, and sell your music. 17 U.S.C.A. § 106(3).

- Cdman or any other third party may not sell your music w/o your permission.

- Unless you signed away rights to your songs somewhere along the way (check the fine print in contracts you signed... there are lots of untrustworthy businesses out there) you, as creator/author, retain copyright and ownership. 17 U.S.C.A. § 201(a)

- You can sue those infringing on your copyright for actual damages (the harm done to you) and for all of the infringer's profits. 17 U.S.C.A. § 504(a)

Obviously, I don't know all the facts here, but if your album is out for sale somewhere and neither you, nor any members of your band authorized it, it seems like you should have a legal claim against those making money off of your work.

[john turner]

thanks for the input, folks. now i gotta follow it up with lawyer action

[finalrequiem]

Subscribed. This, I gotta see. Get 'em!

[MIJ-VI]

Lawyers are expensive and this is an issue which can affect any recording artist.

Perhaps it's time for another off-site discussion/strategy session?..

*subscribed*

[Chowowbus]

get em Bill!

Keep us updated if you can.