I'll make this one short and bitter sweet...Bitter sweet because I really hate the idea of having to go after people to protect my copyrights when simply asking my permission could have saved them a lot of headache. Whenever you use a musical work created by somebody else without their permission you are STEALING. Sugar coat it if you choose to but in the eyes of the law we call that COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT. Many young music artists who are writers & composers may risk learning this the hard way if they dare to take that chance. Learn the business side of music biz so you can protect yourself from possible law suits and embarrassment and do NOT leave this task to your Manager or anyone else. Learn it yourself!
Recently my musical work was used without my permission. To make matters worse the person who published my work on Youtube, iTunes and ReverbNation gave my credit to somebody else. I believe he was well aware of what he was doing but I assume he thought I either wouldn't find out, wouldn't be knowledgable of copyright law or he assumed I wouldn't take action. I asked the person in writing to appropriately credit me for my contribution to the song and to make sure he credited me publicly everywhere the song was made available. When this person didn't do that I sent a written request to edit out (delete) my creative work and upload the song again without my part because at that point I was DONE. I wanted nothing to do with the song. After another day went by I took action to protect my rights beginning with a copyright claim to Youtube. Within a day or so the video containing the song in question was removed with a public note that said, "This Video Is No Longer Available Due To A Copyright Claim By Sally B. Waller".
I will speak about copyright law and music publishing in future blogs but for now I'd like to leave you with a few helpful resources:
Study This Information:
The United State's Copyright Office Frequently Asked Questions:
Here's How To Get Your Work Removed From Youtube, iTunes or ReverbNation:
Email Youtube at: copyright@youtube.com
Contact iTunes legal department at: http://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/itunesstorenotices/
Contact ReverbNation's legal department at: https://www.reverbnation.com/copyright
And last....Pick up a book today about Copyright law and music publishing and read it. You'll save yourself a ton of headache down the road.
Yours in music! sb
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