djcubez Posted April 22, 2009 Share Posted April 22, 2009 Hey guys, I haven't been here for a while but I thought this might be a good place to ask this. Basically, my roommate's band had four members and they kicked one out who played violin. They had already released a CD with him and most of the music was copyrighted by the lead guitarist BEFORE the violin player joined the band. Now the violin player after being kicked out is attempting to copyright his violin parts for each song and sue the band for using them (on the CD and at shows). Now, I'm a little sketchy on copyright laws and I've been telling them they shouldn't be worried about anything. However, should they be? EDIT: Just talked to the drummer of their band. Apparently he has a right to the royalties and he's going to try and sue. However, he's been using their logo and spreading it around facebook and other websites with slander and insults, which gives my roommates band the right to counter-sue for defamation (yes, he's talked to a lawyer). This is bogus though, were all just college students and nobody has the money to afford any of these lawyers. I'm just glad I'm not involved in any of this. I guess this post is useless now unless people want to further comment on it/have anything to add. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kitashi Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 You should get some camermen and turn this into a TV show, make you some money to pay for those lawyers. I'd watch it (at least to see if it's as interesting as you're making it out to be). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XZero Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 I was going to tell you the same thing the lawyer told them, so let me just expound briefly. Basically, when a person in a band contributes to the final product, he can't copyright his own unique individual performance in a given track or song. However, because of his contribution, he is entitled to any royalties that are due to him as a result of his contribution (presumably 1/4 the total royalties of the band as a whole on the CD or any songs released that he contributed to). Now the thing about his use of their logo. He can use it for comment/criticism, and can make any *true* statements he wants. He cannot make slanderous statements. Your friends should probably just settle, because as college students, the litigation will probably be pretty costly. [note: this is in no way to be construed as legal advice] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kizyr Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 Although, from a strictly non-legal standpoint, a settlement is probably less likely to create more bad blood between them. It's also probably easier to reconcile later on if the case ended in a settlement, instead of going all the way through the courts. Then again, neither party may be particularly interest in reconciliation. KF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJT Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 why don't they just give him the royalties he's entitled to? spite? edit: or since this is a college band, just cut him a check for 50 bucks and call it good Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLyGeN Posted April 24, 2009 Share Posted April 24, 2009 They could re-release the album with a new violinist playing, and stop selling the old one. Hum. Maybe that's why some companies make re-releases without really changing much. huh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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