Karaoke Forums

Think you know about copyright law?

Each time a record is played on the radio, compensation is paid to certain individuals or organizations who played a role in the creation of that record. Which of the following people (or organizations) receives a portion of this compensation?


a,The songwriter
b,The artist performing the song on the record
c,The record company

_________________
I can neither confirm nor deny ever having or knowing anything about nothing.... mrscott

IIRC it's the copyright holder of the original music and/or lyrics.  Often it's the songwriter, but many times they sign the rights over to the record companies or other intellectul property management groups as a portion of their contract.

So no, it's not usually the artist performing unless they also wrote the song and maintained ownership of the music/lyrical copyrights.

BTW, Elvis' manager wouldn't let him sing any song they didn't have the rights to for a LONG time to prevent a situation similar to this happening.  Elvis would sing, someone else would get paid.

Well that was very informative!

_________________
People are like stained glass windows.  The shimmer and shine in the daylight but when darkness falls their true beauty can only be seen if light glows from within.

Actually, that copyright isn't the big problem. The person who has the royalty rights to the song is the one getting the checks, why do you think MJ boutgh all those Beatles songs? Acutally if a local artist in your area has copyrights to a song they get nothing from their song being played on the radio unless they are an ACSAP member.

Assuming that  the song writer have the right to the royalty  and is a member of ACSAP, How does he get paid: who keep track of the number of times the song is being played; the number of listeners etc?

_________________
I can neither confirm nor deny ever having or knowing anything about nothing.... mrscott

Copyrights don't have anything to do with publishing rights.  Copyright protects a piece of work from being claimed by another as their own.  Publishing is where the artist gets the royalties.  Radio stations, tv stations & the like all keep track of how many songs get played when & how often.  These get paid accordingly to the respective publisher to take care of the royalties.  Clubs are different, they basically pay a blanket fee per publisher based on how many people the club seats on an annual basis also per TYPE of entertainment.

_________________
LIKE Lonman on Facebook - Lonman Productions Karaoke & my main site via my profile!

Radio stations submit the playlist is my understanding.  It 'could' be different but I remember reading that somewhere..... just don't remember where.

When I was a college DJ several moons ago, we kept a log of every song we played, and it was sent somewhere.  I always figured it was for royalties purposes.

Some more question:

Does copyright to a song ever expire? I am sure it does, cos who collect for Bach(?)
When collect for songs like Happy Birthday to You and other 'common/folk songs

_________________
I can neither confirm nor deny ever having or knowing anything about nothing.... mrscott

In the US (other countries vary) the copyrights typically expire 75 years after the death of the author - music or published work.

Note that even though the music from Bach, Brahms, etc aren't copyrighted a specific performance CAN still be copyrighted.

Any time 'Happy Birthday' and similar songs are sang you can send in a payment to ASCAP/BMI/SESAC for a public performance which would be forwarded to the license holder.  Most don't bother though because it's not practical for the home birthday parties.  BTW, that's why you don't find the 'standard' happy birthday song being sung in most venues - the people that own the license to that song were not kind about 'suddenly' enforcing and requesting payment.

Thanks karaokemeister , so I can assume that after 75 years as in the State the songs become public properties

_________________
I can neither confirm nor deny ever having or knowing anything about nothing.... mrscott

Remember, it's 75 years after their DEATH.  If they wrote it at 25, live to be 100, it's 150 years before it's available.

And it was less until a short time ago when they upped the amount of time.  As always, double check with an IP attorney for specifics regarding various countries.