Archive for the ‘Recordings’ Category

How Does An Unauthorized Arrangement Become Grand Theft Auto?

Wednesday, August 21st, 2013

By Brian Taylor Goldstein, Esq. Dear Law and Disorder: Several years ago, our small ensemble hired a composer to arrange and re-orchestrate a work for us to play. The work itself, which is still under copyright, was originally written and arranged for a large orchestra. Recently, we made a video of our group performing the […]

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“Fair Use” Just Isn’t Fair!

Wednesday, May 29th, 2013

By Brian Taylor Goldstein, Esq. Dear Law and Disorder: I have read your clearly stated articles about mechanical use and rights.  What about “fair use”? Aren’t there specific scenarios where permission is not needed to use a recording of someone else’s music? Beware of what you ask. You are about to open a box whereupon […]

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When To Negotiate A Contract

Tuesday, April 30th, 2013

By Brian Taylor Goldstein, Esq. Dear Law and Disorder: A successful duo I represent has recorded a CD which is being released by a record company. Although the artist made attempts to obtain a contract, because of time restraints, according to the record company, it was only possible to give a contract AFTER the recording […]

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Using Existing Recordings–Not So Fast!

Wednesday, April 10th, 2013

By Brian Taylor Goldstein, Esq. Dear Law and Disorder: A few weeks ago you wrote a great article about how to obtain a mechanical license when someone wants to record music. But what about using a recording that already exists? We would like to promote an upcoming concert at our venue by putting some recordings […]

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The Mechanics of Mechanical Licenses

Wednesday, March 6th, 2013

By Brian Taylor Goldstein, Esq. Dear Law and Disorder: Does all music (if not in public domain) require a mechanical license to be recorded? I don’t quite understand when it is needed and when a person could pay a statutory fee and move forward without permission. Yes, anytime you want to make an audio recording […]

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Ask, and Ye “May” Receive…or Not

Wednesday, January 9th, 2013

By Brian Taylor Goldstein, Esq. Dear Law and Disorder, I am a music professor at a medium-sized state college. We have two questions with regard to live streaming some of our concerts and recitals. We, of course, have paid the ASCAP and BMI licenses/fees to cover the rights for live performances. I believe the licensing […]

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Can We Loan Sheet Music?

Wednesday, November 28th, 2012

By Brian Taylor Goldstein, Esq. Dear Law and Disorder: May we loan music that we own for orchestral performances by other non-profit organizations (schools, community orchestras, etc? Would the other group still need to obtain performing/recording permissions? Could we be liable if they don’t? It depends how define “own.” If by “own”, you mean that […]

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Can They Dance Away With My Copyright?

Tuesday, October 23rd, 2012

By Brian Taylor Goldstein, Esq. I own the video footage of a performance by a dance company. Recently, I learned that another choreographer purchased a license from the dance company to recreate and perform the same work. However, they used a copy of my video to help in recreating the choreography. In other words, they […]

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Can A Visitor Record An Album?

Wednesday, October 3rd, 2012

By Brian Taylor Goldstein So glad I found your page on the internet, so far it’s been the most helpful out of all my Google searches! I have just a couple of questions. We are from Australia and I have a 14 year old son who has signed a recording contract in the US. Currently we are traveling […]

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Listen To Your Mother and Get It In Writing!

Wednesday, September 5th, 2012

By Brian Taylor Goldstein Can you answer this question for us?  My soon to be son-in-law is a musician. He has written and recorded many songs, and is producing his first CD.  One of the songs on the CD, he had a female friend sing with him.  If he plans to put this song on […]

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