Local Band Copyright

[JayCo413]

It's almost time for post-production in my movie and we're going to use some music from a local band, who is surprisingly good and well-recorded when compared to most. They are unsigned and have no formal agreement between the members, who come and go as they please. Does anybody know who, in the band, legally owns the copyright to the lyrics (written jointly by all) and recordings (recorded jointly by all) and therefore who can sign off on the use of the recordings in our film. They are letting us use the music for credit only and no money, but we need to capture that in writing, of course.

Thanks, Jay

 

[EddieLeonardo]

I just had to do this exact same thing. Biggest thing is to find out who not only wrote the lyrics but also the music. If it was all of them then one person can speak for the band as a whole and you would word this in your contract that this is the person responsible for any liability. The thing is while someone could later down the road say that they were the ones that wrote the song and try to sue you, you should be covered if you make sure that you have the liability covered by the (one main) person that had signed off on the contract.

(Please understand I am not a lawyer and only have basic information on this)

You need the following documents to make sure you have secured the rights

SYNCHRONIZATION LICENSE FOR MOTION PICTURE THEATRICAL TELEVISION EXHIBITION AND HOME USE DISTRIBUTION -

This gives you the ability to use the music in your film anyway you see fit.

MASTER USE LICENSE -

This gives you the right to use the master recording for use in your film

Good luck and if you know this band personally like I did, you should be able to get this done with no problems at all.

Eddie

 

[directorik]

Does anybody know who, in the band, legally owns the copyright to the lyrics (written jointly by all) and recordings (recorded jointly by all) and therefore who can sign off on the use of the recordings in our film.

Who would know this answer better than the band members? I'm no laywer either, but I'm pretty sure the answer is - all of them legally own the copyright and all of them need to sign the agreement.

 

[BoydGaffney]

I agree with directorik- they all own the copyright jointly, so they all need to sign. I think you can find some generic sync and master licenses online- and if not, just write your own.

Ben Messer
Productiontrax.com
Royalty Free Music and Sound Effects, Stock Footage, and Multimedia Content

 

[steve gelder]

One person from the band can act as representative for all when it comes to assigning rights, so not everyone in the band needs to sign the document. It just needs to be clearly stated in the forms that ________ is acting as a representative for the band _______ who appointed him/her to act in that capacity. The manager of the group can also sign off, if there is one.

I'm not an attorney, but I've signed enough music rights forms with bands to know this one. It's pretty impractical to try to get all the members of a band together to sign any paperwork.