Seeking copyright for fingerstyle covers used on album

[DarkestDreaming]

Hi,
I was wondering if anyone here has done any recordings for their own albums that feature fingerstyle arrangements of popular tunes, and can teach me the procedure? I plan to eventually release an album and sell it online and some hard copies for regional sales.

Some things I'd like to know:

1. If its a rendition of the tune, I should look to compensate and credit only the writers and not the performers of the original tune?

2. I plan to compose a variation of a popular fingerstyle piece. This will not sound close to the song, but it has similar motions and chord progression. It will also be stated that this is a variation of that tune. How does copyrighting work in this instance?


Thanks in advance

[deltoid]

You need a mechanical license for this sort of thing. You can get started at the Harry Fox Agency . They make the process fairly simple.

As for question 2, I would say it's better to play it safe and get the mechanical licenses. Doing a reinterpretation of a song does require it, according to Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mechanical_license

[KevWind]

Yes a Mechanical license. This is a reasonable explanation from Wiki

In copyright law, a mechanical license is a license that grants certain limited permissions to work with, study, improve upon, reinterpret, re-record (etc.) something that is neither a free/open source item nor in the public domain.

Within the music industry, a mechanical license gives the holder permission to create copies of a recorded song which they did not write and/or do not have copyright over. It is an agreement with the composition copyright holder, the publisher, or the songwriter that allows the holder to reproduce the composition – recording, printed sheet music, lyrics, for example. This license specifically refers to the musical composition as an entity, not any particular physical sound recording(s) of the composition. For example, you would need a mechanical license to publish sheet music for "California Girls," composed by Brian Wilson and Mike Love, from their publisher. You would also need it if you wanted to press CDs of your band singing "California Girls." However, if you wanted to press CDs of the 1965 Beach Boys recording of "California Girls," you would need both a mechanical license and a master recording license from the Beach Boys (or their record label).

Copyright law also allows for a "compulsory mechanical license". Under the law, anybody can obtain compulsory mechanical license without express permission from the copyright holder.

In the United States of America, most mechanical licenses are obtained through the Harry Fox Agency. Other commercial agencies such as RightsFlow (via the Limelight online mechanical license form utility) and easySongLicensing.com also issue compulsory mechanical licenses. Harry Fox Agency and the other commercial agencies collect and distribute the royalties, plus they collect a per-song service fee of roughly $15.

A mechanical license can only be used after the original copyright holder has exercised their exclusive right of first publishing, or permission is negotiated.[1]

[DarkestDreaming]

Hi deltoid and KevWind, thanks for the replies..

I am not based in the US, I reside in Malaysia, so there might be some complications with the calculation and collecting of royalties..

So in most cases it would be USD15 of processing fees plus a percentage in royalty, sales of which are tracked by Harry Fox agency?

I was concerned that the price would be really up there..

[KevWind]

Originally Posted by DarkestDreaming

Hi deltoid and KevWind, thanks for the replies..

I am not based in the US, I reside in Malaysia, so there might be some complications with the calculation and collecting of royalties..

So in most cases it would be USD15 of processing fees plus a percentage in royalty, sales of which are tracked by Harry Fox agency?

I was concerned that the price would be really up there..

You've got it a little bit confused Harry Fox does not track distribution...
There will be no tracking or collecting of Royalties after the fact of obtaining a mechanical license. The fees you must pay are pre paid one time royalty fees and are paid on a per unit basis, based on how many units ( either physical units like CDs or units of permanent digital download) you specify you are going to make and distribute. Plus a one time per song pre paid processing fee.

Also the Harry Fox pricing structure for short run (2500 units and under) is called "Songfile". It is a statutory per unit royalty fee 9.1 cent US per song X the number of units you specify, which goes to the copyright holder . And a one time per song processing fee which is now $16 for up to 5 songs and $14 for each additional song over 5 which goes to Harry Fox Agency.

Here is a link to HF FAQ page about this.
http://www.harryfox.com/songfile/faq.jsp#faq1


BUT
Actually Yes there is a problem as far as H.F. in the license agreement with Harry Fox it states it only covers mechanical license for distribution in the US.

So I do not know about overseas distribution

[SteveHung]

I did a Christmas album about over a year ago where I did my own fingerstyle arrangements of Christmas tunes. I had to pay for the liscence to make my own arrangement of the more modern Christmas tunes like "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas." I went to this website to pay the fees, they charge about $15 per song:

http://www.songclearance.com

[DarkestDreaming]

Hi Kev and Steve,

I did some research following my opening post, and from my understanding, any arrangment with Harry Fox, Limelight, Song Clearance etc. is only valid for sales in the US only.

Any other sales transactions will have to be cleared by each individual country's copyright laws, and most likely involves sending a monthly report on sales to the publisher themselves

[DarkestDreaming]

So I was doing some research on this:

Suffice to say that you have no control over who buys your album if you sell it off your website. If someone from Lithuania buys it, and then someone from Morroco buys it, you can't always go knocking on the door for the licensing rights in those countries.

Apparently if you sell only online copies of your album, and your website is hosted in the US, HFA or Limelight covers you sufficiently.

Can someone confirm or deny this? Thanks!

[KevWind]

Originally Posted by DarkestDreaming

So I was doing some research on this:

Suffice to say that you have no control over who buys your album if you sell it off your website. If someone from Lithuania buys it, and then someone from Morroco buys it, you can't always go knocking on the door for the licensing rights in those countries.

Apparently if you sell only online copies of your album, and your website is hosted in the US, HFA or Limelight covers you sufficiently.

Can someone confirm or deny this? Thanks!

Yes the way I read the digital distribution license section on HF is the country in which the main hosting websight is located as a business, is the only country for which you need the license

[DarkestDreaming]

Hey Kev, this is indeed great news for me!

Can you direct me to the link where you read that? Where I read that information from was a forum post from a Limelight User Database. I need something in more concrete writing to make sure my grounds are covered. Thanks so much!

Or anyone else who might have leads on this, for that matter. Am having trouble finding it online.

[Ty Ford]

"Yes the way I read the digital distribution license section on HF is the country in which the main hosting websight is located as a business, is the only country for which you need the license"

So, if an "off-shore", (not in the USA), company hosts my web site and I'm in the USA does that mean my deal is not subject to USA Copyright laws because they are not in the USA?

Regards,

Ty Ford

[KevWind]

Originally Posted by DarkestDreaming

Hey Kev, this is indeed great news for me!

Can you direct me to the link where you read that? Where I read that information from was a forum post from a Limelight User Database. I need something in more concrete writing to make sure my grounds are covered. Thanks so much!

Or anyone else who might have leads on this, for that matter. Am having trouble finding it online.

I just went back and looked but cannot now find it But I am quite certain I did read it on one of the HF pages, perhaps the best bet is to click the contact us page and just type in the question. Sorry I will check again later

[DarkestDreaming]

Just to follow up on the issue:

I wrote an email to a correspondent on Harry Fox and the following is his reply:

Hello,

Thank you for contacting HFA. HFA issues mechanical licenses that are valid for the physical or digital reproduction (a DPD) of compositions embodied in sound recordings that are manufactured and distributed to the public for private use in the U.S. (including its territories and possessions) only.
The answer to your question is yes, if you distribute your cover songs online through a U.S. hosted website, “territories and possessions” of the U.S. are covered in mechanical licenses issued through HFA Songfile.



Please let me know if you have any additional questions. Thanks.