Legal Use of Beatle Songs

gshadoan · Post by **gshadoan** » Tue Jan 10, 2006 2:06 pm

Ok, well I guess that I was asking more of the bigger bands that do tributes. What are their liabilities. I understand that the weekend warriors are never gonna really pay for copywritten material, or in most cases the IRS. But there is a pretty big sub culture of bands that do make a good living doing tributes. These are the questions I was addressing. Just wondering if anyone knew. Thanks.
Greg

drathbun · Post by **drathbun** » Wed Jan 18, 2006 10:57 am

In Canada, it is the venue that pays the performance royalty to SOCAN. I assume it is the same deal in the states... the venue pays the royalty for cover material. Is it ASCAP? This is not just for live performance of copyright material, but also for the playing of recorded material i.e. if you play CD's in a bar as background or if you are a DJ at a dance party at the local community centre.

If you record, you as the producer of the covered material have to pay a publishing fee and get the performance rights to cover the material in the first place plus pay a royalty to the song's rights holder.

This is how I understand it.

wayang · Post by **wayang** » Wed Jan 18, 2006 10:19 pm

It's exactly the same in the states, Douglas...the bar pays ASCAP/BMI fees, and the band can play what it wants...that's my latest understanding of things. How that money gets back to the original artist I have no idea...

It's basically as clear as mud...

brammy · Post by **brammy** » Thu Jan 19, 2006 11:58 am

yup.... as are a lot of things in life.

kog · Post by **kog** » Thu Jan 19, 2006 7:49 pm

OK, so what about the Beatle "Tribute" bands on the web? Most of them have audio/video downloads available of their work. Some sell their CDs after performances. So, how does that work? Are they paying royalties to BMI/ASCAP, or....?

brammy · Post by **brammy** » Thu Jan 19, 2006 8:29 pm

Here's my favorite Beatle tribute band:

revolver323 · Post by **revolver323** » Fri Jan 20, 2006 3:52 pm

According to US Copyright law, if you want to record or perform any song that is NOT in the public domain, you MUST secure either recording or performance rights from the proper parties. This can be a clearing house such as the Harry Fox Agency, which charges about 14 cents for an 8-minute song, PER COPY, of the recording (up to 2,500 copies) plus a processing fee of from $8-$10 per song. This applies even to a CD you never plan to use for anything other than your own entertainment. Fox doesn't have clearances for all songs, and those must be secured from the individual copyright holder. Performance rights are supposed to be secured from the copyright holder BEFORE you perform the song. Even if you have bought the recording or the sheet music, you are still required to secure these rights. Bars and other performance venues do pay fees to ASCAP and BMI that allow artists performing there to play copyrighted songs. There is a thing called fair use wherein you can post a sample online without paying additional fees, but I have no idea what constitutes "fair use" as far as clip length. This affects not only rock bands but amateur orchestras, bands and theater troupes. Many of these organizations probably don't know a thing about rights. Many choose to ignore rights because of costs and hassles in securing them. And I suspect that enforcement is lax because it would cost more to pursue thousands or even millions of violations than what they are actually losing in fees. I imagine the IRS feels the same way about going after bands selling CDs and not reporting the income. Basically, you are safe performing and recording only those songs for which you own the copyright.