Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr Bojangles
Thank you KevWind, you have addressed and answered my questions and concerns. I have an offer to record and get some radio air play for a few of my songs. I just don't know if the airplay and public exposure is worth the risk of losing assignment rights. My own performances are not good enough to make me famous or wealthy, but a couple of the songs themselves are pretty good (in my humble opinion), and are frequently requested when I play in public. I just don't want to lose control over who I might want to grant recording permission to down the road. I keep getting requests for CD's, but I don't distribute any for the same reason, and also because I'm not satisfied with my recording abilities.
Thanks to everyone for their advice. I find this to be a very complicated subject, which is probably why there are attorneys who specialize in it.
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I think you should talk to a lawyer.
From the Copyright Office (link I posted earlier - emphasis mine):
Copyright provides the owner of copyright with the exclusive right to
• Reproduce the work in copies or phonorecords
• Prepare derivative works based upon the work
• Distribute copies or phonorecords of the work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership or by rental, lease, or lending
• Perform the work publicly if it is a literary, musical, dramatic, or choreographic work; a pantomime; or a motion picture or other audiovisual work
• Display the work publicly if it is a literary, musical, dramatic, or choreographic work; a pantomime; or a pictorial, graphic, or sculptural work. This right also applies to the individual
images of a motion picture or other audiovisual work.
• Perform the work publicly by means of a digital audio transmission if the work is a sound
recording
Copyright also provides the owner of copyright the right to authorize others to exercise these exclusive rights, subject to certain statutory limitations.
What generally happens is that you make your work public so it gets reproduced and you get money for that. But, you can certainly claim infringement if someone does any of those things you have the exclusive right to, i.e., without first getting permission. But, you'd have to pursue that legally, and unless someone is making a lot of money, or the infringer has a lot of money, it's rarely a worthwhile exercise.