salempc

Ahh... Now I get your buddy...

Dont make a big deal out of it, he just got butthurt because you didn't inform him you were playing TCA songs because he feels he did his job too and would want some credit for it. If you don't even tell him you're playing, how could he be sure he gets the credit he does deserve, even if you did mention him. You should have told him.

He doesn't look like he doesn't want you to play them, just that it wouldn't hurt to let him know you are, so he feels like people know he is being credited for his work, which although legally would give you a great leverage, formally it really was a 50/50 effort.

It's just butthurt, don't make a big deal of it.

parkt921k

actually, this message came to me about four days after I had indeed told him I'd be playing tca songs. It was more that I took it as a given. I would've said sth like "yeah, and when I play that acoustic show in two weeks, it'll be hard to play can you swim just acoustically because there's so much going on in that song", instead of:

"I'm playing an acoustic show in front of 8 people in two weeks, can I please play one of our songs we wrote together?"

so when you say 'you should have told him', of course I did, it's just that I didn't even think it'd be a problem.. turns out it was, which was a huge red flag

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the cruel april

AlanHB

I'm talking about whether the tab would exist if the original song, which you didn't write, didn't exist. How much credit do you want for someone else's song?

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And no, Guitar Hero will not help. Even on expert. Really.

salempc

Well he is a dick then.

parkt921k

helps my clarity anyway, a difficult situation overall for the music and me too. sucks losing someone you thought was your friend

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the cruel april

axemanchris

As has been established, it sounds like you own the majority of the songwriting - but not all of it. That's fine. If he contributed 5% (or even 1%), he still deserves credit. A song may be listed as being by Tyler and Perry, but that doesn't mean it was 50/50.

Where you indicate the percentage is in the copyright paperwork, the performance royalties paperwork (ie ASCAP), and the mechanical rights paperwork (ex. Harry Fox Agency). In that case, it would be listed as Tyler (95%) and Perry (5%) or whatever. Those figures are then used to calculate how much money each person gets when royalties are distributed.

As far as live use goes, it has already been established correctly that the venue operators pay an annual license for the public performances of copyrighted material. He can no more say that you can't use the songs he co-wrote than Billy Joe Armstrong can tell you not to play a Green Day cover.

One nit-pick from above - performance royalties are not the fees paid to people who perform on an album. Performance royalties are paid out when a song is performed in public, which strangely enough, includes "performances" of the recording (ex. television, radio, etc.)

CT

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Joshua1207

Pretty sure he is talking about songs in this section http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/foru....php?forumid=46 songs that people do write themselves.

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onebetter

There's two components to copyright, only one of which is relevant here. The first is the ownership of the composition itself (i.e. the lyrics, melody, chords, and riffs.) The other is the sound recording.

Copyright is automatically enacted whenever something is "fixed in tangible form," meaning when music/lyrics are written down and/or a song is recorded. In the case of compositions, the rights are shared equally by everyone who contributed to the work, unless otherwise agreed upon in a written contract.

So, in saying that you can't perform these songs without his permission, he is right, since as joint owners of the compositions, you have equal say in their use.

However, it gets sticky when talking about how the copyright is claimed. I'm assuming none of these songs have been registered with the U.S. Copyright Office? If not, your friend will be hard-pressed to stop you from performing the songs, even if it is technically illegal.

You guys should draft a written agreement. That way you can negotiate what uses of the songs are fair and which require permission. Best to get everything in writing when it comes to legal issues.

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Name's Keith.

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