Record Industry Braces for Artists’ Battles Over Song Rights

[SecularMotion]

Source: NY Times

Since their release in 1978, hit albums like Bruce Springsteen’s “Darkness on the Edge of Town,” Billy Joel’s “52nd Street,” the Doobie Brothers’ “Minute by Minute,” Kenny Rogers’s “Gambler” and Funkadelic’s “One Nation Under a Groove” have generated tens of millions of dollars for record companies. But thanks to a little-noted provision in United States copyright law, those artists — and thousands more — now have the right to reclaim ownership of their recordings, potentially leaving the labels out in the cold.

When copyright law was revised in the mid-1970s, musicians, like creators of other works of art, were granted “termination rights,” which allow them to regain control of their work after 35 years, so long as they apply at least two years in advance. Recordings from 1978 are the first to fall under the purview of the law, but in a matter of months, hits from 1979, like “The Long Run” by the Eagles and “Bad Girls” by Donna Summer, will be in the same situation — and then, as the calendar advances, every other master recording once it reaches the 35-year mark.

The provision also permits songwriters to reclaim ownership of qualifying songs. Bob Dylan has already filed to regain some of his compositions, as have other rock, pop and country performers like Tom Petty, Bryan Adams, Loretta Lynn, Kris Kristofferson, Tom Waits and Charlie Daniels, according to records on file at the United States Copyright Office.

“In terms of all those big acts you name, the recording industry has made a gazillion dollars on those masters, more than the artists have,” said Don Henley, a founder both of the Eagles and the Recording Artists Coalition, which seeks to protect performers’ legal rights. “So there’s an issue of parity here, of fairness. This is a bone of contention, and it’s going to get more contentious in the next couple of years.”

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/16/arts/music/springsteen-and-others-soon-eligible-to-recover-song-rights.html?hp

[TwilightGardener]

1. So the labels made money for 35 years, and then the artists, who are all

at least middle aged and possibly getting downright old, might still get some money for their work--not sure why the labels would care.

[musiclawyer]

2. As someone who am of age.....

as a songwriter after the music "industry" self immolated, I have more sympathy for the musicians. Newer artists like me learned from the elders never to sell your publishing rights unless you were going to be set for life, and even then, get a good lawyer before you sign anything. In a way its much easier now frankly; you go staight to digital internet sales, all the middle man costs are known and fairly uniform. But there is no more big middle man literally trying to leave you nothing but pennies on the dollar.

[harmonicon]

3. I have no idea who would agree to give someone permanent publishing rights...

even if you could terminate the contract. For the one album I ever released with a band, we had a contract which gave the label 5 years of exclusive publishing rights, at which point they reverted to us. It seemed fair enough. I think we got something like 15%, but we would take inventory (physical CDs) as payment of this to sell at gigs. I'd happily do the same again, but I also can't really understand putting out a record anymore. I don't buy them anymore, except to support friends.

[starroute]

4. I wish they'd stop blaming the Internet for poor music sales

It's been debunked over and over again. The music industry has nobody but itself to blame for its problems, which chiefly stem from inflated prices and an unwillingness to take the time to develop new artists and innovative content, along with a move by purchasers away from albums and back towards singles.

Aside from that one niggle, however, the article is an interesting preview of an issue that is going to blow up in a big way between now and 2013.

[sofa king]

5. If this means disco and new wave are coming back...

Oh, what am I saying? That bullshit never went away.

[NashVegas]

7. ^^^^ That Attitude Right There Is a Good Chunk Why the Music Industry Went To Shit

Trying to cater to people who refused to accept that music MUST change regularly, and that young people deserve to have their own music and that of their peers promoted.

No one wants to be stuck hearing the music of their big brother's life all their life, let alone the music of their parents' life.

[boppers]

9. The music *has* been changing.

Chances are, if you're over a certain age, you don't even listen to it (or maybe even consider it music).... most folks seem to get stuck in a specific rut. Speaking for the under-40 set, the Music Industry went to shit because we frankly really didn't need it anymore.... we cut our own albums, create our own concerts, and artists become "big" based on rapid sharing, remixing, and re-imagining, but artists can now make a living without lots of stadium gigs and studio time.

Since "disco" and "new wave" were complained about upstream, here's a guide to all the new styles and sounds that evolved out of those halcyon days:
http://techno.org/electronic-music-guide/music.swf

[boppers]

10. To be fair, arena rock and crooner-at-a-piano are still going strong too.

Heck, country and the blues are still around, and that shit's ancient.

[surrealAmerican]

6. They had 35 years worth of profits.

It's kind of hard to feel sorry for the record companies on this one.

[MicaelS]

8. Unbelieveable....

“We believe the termination right doesn’t apply to most sound recordings,” said Steven Marks, general counsel for the Recording Industry Association of America, a lobbying group in Washington that represents the interests of record labels. As the record companies see it, the master recordings belong to them in perpetuity, rather than to the artists who wrote and recorded the songs, because, the labels argue, the records are “works for hire,” compilations created not by independent performers but by musicians who are, in essence, their employees.

The depths some people will sink to for greed.