Re: Royalties for Mechanical Music
By Andy LaTorre
In the last digest, I was intrigued with S. K. Goodman's response:
> it has been my practice to go ahead and produce the recording first,
> and if it actually sells out 1,000 copies (well below the 5,000 unit
> "demo" limit set by law), consider another 1,000 unit run. These
> numbers are so small in the grand scheme of modern commercial music
> that it seems ridiculous to even call their issuance to the attention
> of the licensing agencies...
Well, suppose the agency gets wind of this? Do they have the right to slap you with a bill or fine (I heard or read somewhere that copyright infringement fines are $10,000). Can this happen even if you produce only ONE unit? Who does have the right to fine? The government or the agencies? And suppose you (or I) are within the law, can you or I afford to fight such a thing in court?
Goodman also states:
> I would suggest consulting an entertainment-industry copyrights &
> recordings attorney for the final word on this matter.
When I was in Nashville last year I consulted a phone book to this type of attorney but could not find any listing (unless they are all music attorneys).
By reading all of this, one can certainly see the confusion around this issue. Why is this so? I believe that a central government agency should take care of all the fees. Having two private agencies holding the gold coins, in this era of confusion and looseness, is an invitation to corruption.
Composers/songwriter/producers/MIDI-ites/etc: UNITE!
Andy LaTorre
Orgue Mecanique
POB 1479, Cullowhee, NC. 28723
[ Editors note:
[
[ Governments around the world today are recognizing that many
[ bureaucratic functions are accomplished more efficiently by
[ private contractors, with government auditors guarding against
[ corruption.
[
[ Harry Fox is agent for the publishers, not the US government.
[ At issue is the copyright law, and whether the publishers are
[ abusing their rights under the copyright law.
[
[ What is this term "demo" about? Does the law, or the publisher,
[ in some manner give preference to "demo" quantities? (We need
[ a lawyer in this group, don't we! :)
[
[ Robbie Rhodes |
(Message sent Tue 7 Jan 1997, 19:23:28 GMT, from time zone GMT-0500.) |
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