Am I wrong? Give credit where it is due.

[FilTurd]

No, I'm not talking about a legal agreement. I guess I was hoping that my former bandmate would give credit where it is due, rather than pretending he did all the work to make those recordings happen. It's no big deal. It's a learning experience.

He must be full of integrity

 

[xnewyorka]

I'd like to suggest that you think long and hard about what exactly you really want out of this, and how you are being harmed. If you feel you are being financially harmed, and you want to be paid for your work, then have your attorney send him a letter demanding payment for use of your work. If you are not looking for money, then you're only looking for essentially an ego boost because you want some sort of public acknowledgement of your work. I would suggest that even if you get that, it is not going to amount to anything. You should already know in your mind what you have done and what you are capable of. Do you want to merely be able to promote yourself? Do you have recordings of the same material so that you can use them for auditions and such to show people samples of your work? If so, then you are not really being harmed by this, as I see it. The only thing being harmed is your ego. But what is stopping you from creating a web page and posting all of the same music and saying in big bold letters that it was you that engineered and played and wrote all of the tunes? Wouldn't that accomplish what you are looking for? Or does his website have such high traffic volume that there is no way you could get people to notice your site because they are all flocking to his?

This issue resonates with me because I suspect that one reason many of us got into playing music in the beginning is to get some sort of fame and recognition. At least back when I started in the 70s, that was probably my goal, subconscious or otherwise. I wanted to be on stage in the limelight and have all the girls swooning in wanting to meet me backstage. It was not about the music, it was about the recognition. The wisdom that comes with age has taught me that feeding the ego is a fruitless exercise. No matter how much you feed the ego, the ego is always starving for more. In reality, there is just no point in doing that. Much better is to just enjoy the creative process and be satisfied in your own mind with the fruits of your creativity and labor, without requiring any sort of external validation. You can be much happier that way. And actually, happiness is really what it is all about. The goal of life is to have fun and be happy. If you are going to let someone rob you of your happiness by getting all bent out of shape over something inconsequential like this, that is just a shame.

Another thing to think about: If hypothetically your attorney sent him a cease-and-desist letter saying that he needed to either remove the material or give you credit, and he did one of those two things, would you truly feel better about yourself after that happened? What would change for the better in your life as a result of that action being taken? It strikes me that you would feel like you won and he lost, and that would be the ego-boost that you are looking for. So again I suggest that feeding the ego doesn't actually work.

 

[micguy]

I did not write the songs in question. I performed on them, recorded them, mixed them, mastered them for the band we were in together.

As much as it might sting, you have no legal basis to do anything in this situation - the courts care about who created the work, not who helped record it, or who added individual parts to it. You can, if you want, send him a bill for the services you provided in playing your part and for engineering his tunes. As you have no binding agreements, he's free to ignore that bill. But, if I were you , I wouldn't burn that bridge by doing that.

If I were you, I'd ask (nicely) for a copy from him so you can use them to show what you can do on subsequent projects - you're apparently proud of your parts and Engineering; having examples to play for others might be useful in the future.

 

[Kipp Harrington]

No, I'm not talking about a legal agreement. I guess I was hoping that my former bandmate would give credit where it is due, rather than pretending he did all the work to make those recordings happen. It's no big deal. It's a learning experience.

If you did the work (and you know you did), let him claim what he likes. He is perpetuating his own "phoniness".

 

[MD Stingray]

Am I wrong?

Ps- I am enjoying my new original project much more!

You are not wrong, but let it go. Don't waste energy on something that is not within your circle of influence.

Continue happily with your new project that does sits comfortably within! your circle of influence.

 

[mistermikev]

a while back I got an alert from someone I didn't even know on facebook, some praise of my gtr playing, and a link to a commercial for a 'big sale'. Followed the link and was like "hey that's me!". The music was a collab that a life long friend and I did, and he elected to give it to this guy without so much as even telling me. When I brought it up he said "well, there wasn't any money in it or anything". I wondered if I was being silly to be a bit offended. He knows I could care less about the money, and frankly it was sort of a thrill to have my music get beyond my couch but... a "hey do you mind if" would have been nice. Such is life. You can get all but hurt and I suppose dream about suing but what is that really going to get you other than frustration? He was wrong, there: does that make you feel any better? me either.

 

[TemplesOfSyrinx]

Thanks again everyone for your feedback. I had no idea this subject would receive the response it did.

I have no interest in any legal recourse, nor do I have any, without a written agreement. I was more interested to see what others felt about this matter. Personal responsibility and integrity have always been the most important things to me. I guess it just stings when you find that a "friend" does not share those values.

Thanks again everyone.

 

[ThunderV]

Sounds like you paid a cheap price to never have to deal with a douche bag ever again.

 

[waveman]

Well, I would create my own project place a re-release the songs giving proper credit. It's not like anyone is going to sue anyone over it...

 

[mellowinman]

I used to work closely with a guitarist. Now I haven't seen or talked to him in years. It's like a vacation!

 

[dan1952]

I think Meghan Trainor has received about $213.86 from 4 million three hundred thousand seventeen downloads of "All About That Bass." How much money are we talking about here anyway?!?

 

[Engle]

Thanks again everyone for your feedback. I had no idea this subject would receive the response it did.

I have no interest in any legal recourse, nor do I have any, without a written agreement. I was more interested to see what others felt about this matter. Personal responsibility and integrity have always been the most important things to me. I guess it just stings when you find that a "friend" does not share those values.

Thanks again everyone.

Yep that sucks and there's nothing really to be done about it. Its a hard lesson the day you realize your "friend" doesn't share your values.
You can only control your actions. Don't allow that other person to erode your integrity.

 

[Lava]

I've seen a few threads lately about people not getting credit for their tunes or appearing online in band pics that you're no longer a part of and those sorts of credit due situations. The bottom line is if you're not prepared to pay a lawyer to draw up a cease and desist letter or file and follow through with a lawsuit, then you should a) never play on a recording that may someday appear online without a credit or b) never take a photo with a band that may someday appear online that you no longer play with.
Yes, it's definitely not fair, but it happens and life goes on...

 

[JeezyMcNuggles]

I'm like @Joe Nerve in this regard; Best to let it go. I was in a band for years (I'm actually back with them now but that's beside the point) and left them to attend university on full scholarship. After I left town, they recorded a music video for a song I recorded bass on. In the video there's some dude playing me (bass) in the video and belittling my vibrato skills in the intro. It was really weird to see this come out. It gave me all the jealous/betrayed/cheated and otherwise unpleasant feelings. Whether they were justified or not, I don't know. But I let it all go and am happy I did as I'm still friends with the guys and back in the band again nearly 10 years later. Also, through another avenue in life that guy playing my bass part in this video is now a great friend and the guitarist/band leader in the only other band I'm in. If you feel you don't want people using anything you work on in the future, or you want credit if they do, then get it all agreed upon and in writing before hand, otherwise just let it go.

I like his ATK though

 

[SLO Surfer]

I like his ATK though

Yeah it’s a nice bass in the video, even though the song was recorded with a Stingray 5.

 

[JeezyMcNuggles]

Yeah it’s a nice bass in the video, even though the song was recorded with a Stingray 5.

Oh, good choice for him then. They're kinda similar. Different, but similar.

 

[JRA]

TemplesOfSyrinx : so what have you learned here? i mean: what have you learned about the way you might do things differently "the next time?" because when all is said and done = that's what you've got: an opportunity to do things differently the next time! good luck!

 

[Gravedigger Dav]

Ethically, you are right; however, legally, you got nothing.

 

[Runlikegregg]

That sucks and that guy is an *******.
But if you don't let it go, you're the one that will suffer.

 

[InhumanResource]

You are talking about a legal argument/agreement - whether you should be credited for the work you did. That why we have contracts and attorneys.

"I tried absolutely nothing and it still hasn't worked!"