Jump to content

Copyright Issues


djcubez
 Share

Recommended Posts

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.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...