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Copyright?? Kicking a band member out?? Help??
- Thread starter AbraBASS42069
- Start date
Think this also speaks to why the band parted ways with sparky.
What I meant to say is Lynard is going to get paid, from the venue if no fee has been paid
I did say in my post that is was a fee levied against the venues.
It's fixed now
1. There is no copyright basis to prevent you from playing the songs.
2. There is not a performance royalty due from the band to the ex-bandmate; that's the venue's obligation.
3. The ex-member can recover mechanical royalties for streams of the songs; this doesn't prevent your band from playing them.
4. Under certain circumstances (and in limited jurisdictions) a performance can be prevented if it will somehow negatively impact the image or reputation of the writer. This is a super-specific situation that has nothing to do with copyright but rather rights of publicity.
2. There is not a performance royalty due from the band to the ex-bandmate; that's the venue's obligation.
3. The ex-member can recover mechanical royalties for streams of the songs; this doesn't prevent your band from playing them.
4. Under certain circumstances (and in limited jurisdictions) a performance can be prevented if it will somehow negatively impact the image or reputation of the writer. This is a super-specific situation that has nothing to do with copyright but rather rights of publicity.
Members leave bands all the time. Did Bon Jovi stop playing "Let It Rock" when Alec John Such left the band? If he has song writing credits, then he can expect a small sliver of cash from the venues where you perform said songs. Check your emails, announcements and such to see if song writing credits were given. If there were any agreements, maybe on how recording is being paid for, possibly by CD sales or something like that and he gave up pay or contributed cash forwards recording he may have a legitimate claim to some money from the band. Not enough to go to a lawyer, but if all gig pay was going into a band fund to cover recording and then you kicked him out, it would be reasonable to give him his cut of the gig pay.
JeezyMcNuggles
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- Feb 23, 2018
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Saying "copyright" is different than actually going through the process.
I'd love to have a band play my songs. What's his problem?
So, many years ago I co-wrote a song and then got kicked out of the band. A year or so later I go to see the band and they are doing that song, having changed the lyric to disparage me.
I thought about threatening to sue, and then just decided to threaten.
We hadda good laugh and they went back to the original (co-written) lyrics.
I hope that helps, even if just for the humor.
I thought about threatening to sue, and then just decided to threaten.
We hadda good laugh and they went back to the original (co-written) lyrics.
I hope that helps, even if just for the humor.
D
Deleted member 165050
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Just had this with a recording project I'm involved in, guitarist claimed ownership of a song he didn't even write based on contributing guitar parts which were discarded after he left. Still waiting on the outcome. There are people in this world who think they own anything they pee on, probably all directly descended from dogs.
Reminds me of the Nirvana Nevermind baby cover debacle
This, this, and this. Unless you guys are getting pretty decent money for your live performances, this is most likely a small claims issue. No lawyer is going to take that on for spec, and the hourly bill rate would probably be prohibitive for your ex-bandmate. On top of that, he would also have to prove damages. So unless there's a royalty trail involved (e.g. you release it as a single that hits the top 40), he would have to document each occurrence where the song was performed without his permission and likely the percentage of income he should have received had he performed on that one song. (e.g. a 1/40th share of $500 the band made for the entire night, divided by the total number of songs played divided by the number of band members who are also claiming performance or writer's rights, and that's just for one night, so he'd have to spend a lot of time going to your gigs to document it all).
Add to that the fact that there would likely be no punitive damages, and no consideration for court costs or attorney's fees. Basically he has an unenforceable claim, and he doesn't even have a formal copyright. (A judge is highly unlikely to recognize prior publication via distrokid in lieu of a copyright in this instance. Hint: go get a copyright before he does, if this is really important to you.)
All that said, you can make this go away easily with a one-time payment of $50 that grants all future performance writes for said song. Of course, you can also restrict his performance rights for any material that the rest of you claim to have co-written. It goes both ways. If he has a claim, then so do all of you. It's really best for each of you to part ways and revisit this if and when the song charts. Then it's worth fighting about.
I say all this as an expert litigator/epidemiologist/astro physicist/rocket scientist/general-knower-of-all-things/and part-time bass player.
Rewrite those songs. Change the key, rework the harmony and change some words. Done.
but the worst he could do is pay some ambulance chaser a few hundred bucks to write a cease and desist letter that you can effectively ignore.
but the worst he could do is pay some ambulance chaser a few hundred bucks to write a cease and desist letter that you can effectively ignore.
IANAL
The way I see it... There are two kinds of people who threaten to sue... One says they will sue you, and the other has lawyers do it on their behalf.
I'm inclined to think since the latter is notoriously known for blowing smoke that the former is most certainly full of more than hot air.
If he didnt do anything more than "come up with his part", the advice to change that and move on it solid. If he wrote major components of songs, then it's different. Sounds like a toxic person and maybe it's best to divest yourself of anything to do with them?
Either way, you may have to stop doing it, but in one of those instances, the complaintant has to put their money where their mouth is first.
The way I see it... There are two kinds of people who threaten to sue... One says they will sue you, and the other has lawyers do it on their behalf.
I'm inclined to think since the latter is notoriously known for blowing smoke that the former is most certainly full of more than hot air.
If he didnt do anything more than "come up with his part", the advice to change that and move on it solid. If he wrote major components of songs, then it's different. Sounds like a toxic person and maybe it's best to divest yourself of anything to do with them?
Either way, you may have to stop doing it, but in one of those instances, the complaintant has to put their money where their mouth is first.
Ignore it. If you one day get a letter from a lawyer discuss it, then ignore it.
