From: katelyn
2008-08-28 10:54:56
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To: Admin
2009-04-28 13:12:41
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| - | <p> </p> | + | <p>One of the main reasons most people say "All Rights Reserved" is because they think that’s what they should say when they give notice of their copyright. In general, this is good practice. The reason for this, however, is because there are new rights to the same piece of music that seem to get invented every day. We live in times of great technological advancements. One hundred years ago, musicians only knew a song could be performed, notated, or punched into piano rolls. Today, the same song created one hundred years ago can find its way not only on a CD, but also in a film, a video game, an elevator, streamed across the Internet, or even housed in a cell phone ringer. Many of these new uses could not have been contemplated a decade ago, let alone one hundred years ago when some of these rights were invented. And there seems to be more and more applications for music that are being invented all of the time.</p> |
| - | <p class="MsoNormal">One of the main reasons most people say &quot;All Rights Reserved&quot; is because they think that’s what they should say when they give notice of their copyright. In general, this is good practice. The reason for this, however, is because there are new rights to the same piece of music that seem to get invented every day. We live in times of great technological advancements. One hundred years ago, musicians only knew a song could be performed, notated, or punched into piano rolls. Today, the same song created one hundred years ago can find its way not only on a CD, but also in a film, a video game, an elevator, streamed across the Internet, or even housed in a cell phone ringer. Many of these new uses could not have been contemplated a decade ago, let alone one hundred years ago when some of these rights were invented. And there seems to be more and more applications for music that are being invented all of the time.</p> | + | <p>To guard against this, most copyright owners simply announce, "All Rights Reserved." But you don’t have to. Thanks to the previous section, you now know that you can divide these copyrights. It isn’t a case of reserving all or losing all. You can grant someone unlimited mechanical rights, but reserve or retain any synchronization or publishing rights. You can even add amendments and addendums. For instance, you can grant people unlimited mechanical rights unless they decide to use your copyrighted song for commercial purposes. And this leads us to some useful packaged licenses, which are described in the next section.</p> |
| - | <p> </p> | + | <p>By now, you are probably heady with power. You have so many rights for each song that you record and all of those rights are reserved for <b><i>you</i></b>. While these rights are impressive, there probably isn't a long line of people standing outside your door with money in hand begging you to grant them these rights. Actually, they probably can't even spell your band name right, if they recognized it in the first place. The biggest problem that independent bands face is not protecting our rights, it's getting name recognition, getting our music out there and listened to by as many people as possible.</p> |
| - | <p class="MsoNormal">To guard against this, most copyright owners simply announce, &quot;All Rights Reserved.&quot; But you don’t have to. Thanks to the previous section, you now know that you can divide these copyrights. It isn’t a case of reserving all or losing all. You can grant someone unlimited mechanical rights, but reserve or retain any synchronization or publishing rights. You can even add amendments and addendums. For instance, you can grant people unlimited mechanical rights unless they decide to use your copyrighted song for commercial purposes. And this leads us to some useful packaged licenses, which are described in the next section.</p> | + | <p>The problem with copyright is that the default setting for copyright is "all rights reserved." From a legal standpoint, a person that wants to share your music with their friends by giving them a copy of an MP3 of one of your recordings should contact you first to get the right to do that. Or they should buy their friend a copy.</p> |
| - | <p> </p> | + | <p>Does this happen? No.</p> |
| - | <p class="MsoNormal">By now, you are probably heady with power. You have so many rights for each song that you record and all of those rights are reserved for <b><i>you</i></b>. While these rights are impressive, there probably isn't a long line of people standing outside your door with money in hand begging you to grant them these rights. Actually, they probably can't even spell your band name right, if they recognized it in the first place. The biggest problem that independent bands face is not protecting our rights, it's getting name recognition, getting our music out there and listened to by as many people as possible.</p> | + | <p>Are they in violation of copyright law? Yes, if you didn't give them permission.</p> |
| - | <p> </p> | + | <p>This is also true if they want to file share your music, use it in a TV show that they wrote, or add it to an independent movie. If you want to grant people rights to do these specific things, you need to draft a license (a special contract) that grants them permission to use your work. You can do this on a case-by-case basis so you retain absolute control over your work. Or, if you want to try and <b>get your name and music out there,</b> one alternative is to draft a special license that states only "some rights are reserved" and to spell out which ones you allow and which ones you don't. For instance, you can write a license announcing "to the world" that your music is fine to be freely shared as long as its not used for commercial purposes or that they attribute your name as author of the work.</p> |
| - | <p class="MsoNormal">The problem with copyright is that the default setting for copyright is &quot;all rights reserved.&quot; From a legal standpoint, a person that wants to share your music with their friends by giving them a copy of an MP3 of one of your recordings should contact you first to get the right to do that. Or they should buy their friend a copy.</p> | + | <p>Do you need a lawyer to do this? Generally, yes. But there is one group that will allow you to do it for yourself. And that group is the <a href="http://creativecommons.org/"><b>Creative Commons</b></a>.</p> |
| - | <p> </p> | + | <p>If do not wish to reserve ALL of your sub-copyrights, but rather grant some of them away in the interest of sharing your art or helping to get your name and music out there, then the <a href="http://creativecommons.org/"><b>Creative Commons</b></a> organization can help you. They have drafted a number of pre-generated licenses that you can customize depending on your goals or "control issue comfort level."</p> |
| - | <p class="MsoNormal">Does this happen? No.</p> | + | <p>These licenses announce to the world what rights you are willing to grant "to the world" and which rights you wish to still retain. The world will not have to talk to their lawyers to find out if it's ok to use your work and you won't have to get a lawyer to write a license for you. It's all spelled out in advance. Of course, if you want to give all your rights away so that it becomes part of the "public domain" and our culture, you may do that as well. The choice is yours.</p> |
| - | <p> </p> | + | <p>The licenses are free to use and the <a href="http://creativecommons.org/"><b>Creative Commons</b></a> website itself has a lot of interesting and useful information on copyright and licenses. As an independent band, we recommend licensing some of your work via some of these licenses.</p> |
| - | <p class="MsoNormal">Are they in violation of copyright law? Yes, if you didn't give them permission.</p> | + | <p>In fact, we practice what we preach in that we use <a href="http://www.beatnikturtle.com/copyright/"><b>a Creative Commons license</b></a> that allows people to share our work and songs with friends and even sample or create loops from our songs.</p> |
| - | <p> </p> | + | <p style="text-align:right;"><a href="/wiki/page/Performance_Rights_Societies"><b>Next: Performance Rights Societies</b></a></p> |
| - | <p class="MsoNormal">This is also true if they want to file share your music, use it in a TV show that they wrote, or add it to an independent movie. If you want to grant people rights to do these specific things, you need to draft a license (a special contract) that grants them permission to use your work. You can do this on a case-by-case basis so you retain absolute control over your work. Or, if you want to try and <b>get your name and music out there,</b> one alternative is to draft a special license that states only &quot;some rights are reserved&quot; and to spell out which ones you allow and which ones you don't. For instance, you can write a license announcing &quot;to the world&quot; that your music is fine to be freely shared as long as its not used for commercial purposes or that they attribute your name as author of the work.</p> | + | <p style="text-align:right;"><a href="/wiki/page/Indie_Band_Survival_Guide_Ebook"><b>Back to The Indie Band Survival Guide Ebook Home</b></a></p> |
| - | <p> </p> | + | |
| - | <p class="MsoNormal">Do you need a lawyer to do this? Generally, yes. But there is one group that will allow you to do it for yourself. And that group is the <a href="http://creativecommons.org/"><b>Creative Commons</b></a>.</p> | + | |
| - | <p> </p> | + | |
| - | <p class="MsoNormal">If do not wish to reserve ALL of your sub-copyrights, but rather grant some of them away in the interest of sharing your art or helping to get your name and music out there, then the <a href="http://creativecommons.org/"><b>Creative Commons</b></a> organization can help you. They have drafted a number of pre-generated licenses that you can customize depending on your goals or &quot;control issue comfort level.&quot;</p> | + | |
| - | <p> </p> | + | |
| - | <p class="MsoNormal">These licenses announce to the world what rights you are willing to grant &quot;to the world&quot; and which rights you wish to still retain. The world will not have to talk to their lawyers to find out if it's ok to use your work and you won't have to get a lawyer to write a license for you. It's all spelled out in advance. Of course, if you want to give all your rights away so that it becomes part of the &quot;public domain&quot; and our culture, you may do that as well. The choice is yours.</p> | + | |
| - | <p> </p> | + | |
| - | <p class="MsoNormal">The licenses are free to use and the <a href="http://creativecommons.org/"><b>Creative Commons</b></a> website itself has a lot of interesting and useful information on copyright and licenses. As an independent band, we recommend licensing some of your work via some of these licenses.</p> | + | |
| - | <p> </p> | + | |
| - | <p class="MsoNormal">In fact, we practice what we preach in that we use <a href="http://www.beatnikturtle.com/copyright/"><b>a Creative Commons license</b></a> that allows people to share our work and songs with friends and even sample or create loops from our songs.</p> | + | |
| - | <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> | + | |
| - | <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> | + | |
| - | <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:right;"><a href="../../../../wiki/page/Performance_Rights_Societies">Next: Performance Rights Societies</a></p> | + | |
| - | <p> </p> | + | |
