Posts Tagged ‘music’

Who Has To Pay The Likes of ASCAP, BMI, Etc?

Thursday, February 18th, 2016

By Brian Taylor Goldstein, Esq.    I haven’t found an example that matches the situation of a 501(c)(3) I am familiar with. They throw a once-yearly art festival that spans a weekend (2days). They don’t charge the public any admittance. They raise money by charging fees for booth (10×10) spaces for (visual) arts vendors to […]

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Press “Pause” On That Recording

Thursday, October 29th, 2015

By Brian Taylor Goldstein, Esq.    Dear Law and Disorder In reviewing an engagement contract for one of my artists, I was surprised to see that the presenter wants the right to record the artist’s performance as a “work-for-hire”. The Presenter says that this is a standard requirement and also that its reasonable because my […]

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A Tribute To Copyright Infringement

Wednesday, September 16th, 2015

By Brian Taylor Goldstein, Esq.    Dear Law and Disorder Could you please advise how a copyright application would be filed for a tribute musical of deceased popular singer? The show would consist of all of his songs. Would it be better to file it as a compilation or concert? Can all the songs be […]

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When Is A Plumber Worth More Than A Violinist?

Thursday, July 9th, 2015

By Brian Taylor Goldstein, Esq.    We spent a lot of money making a CD to promote our orchestra. Now the composer’s publisher wants mechanical royalties. I just don’t understand why I have to pay mechanical royalties for a CD I am not selling, just giving to donors. Doesn’t the Composer want people to listen […]

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How Is Copyright Infringement Like An Ugly Car?

Thursday, November 20th, 2014

By Brian Taylor Goldstein, Esq.    Dear Law and Disorder: What rights does a translator have? I translated a non-English script into English. All of the prior translations were very bad, which is why I did my own.  Everyone agrees mine is the best, even the original author. However, now that I am getting offers […]

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When Is A “Work For Hire” Not A “Work For Hire”?

Thursday, July 10th, 2014

By Brian Taylor Goldstein, Esq.    Dear Law and Disorder: An orchestra commissioned one of our artists to make an arrangement of a work for them to perform. We agreed that it would be a “work for hire.” Now, the orchestra wants to record their performance of the arrangement and has come to us asking […]

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The Lost Art of Negotiation

Thursday, June 12th, 2014

By Brian Taylor Goldstein, Esq.    Dear Law and Disorder: A longtime friend who is also a very successful artist who I greatly respect, asked me to do a project with him. He sent me a contract, but it doesn’t cover things like when and how I get paid. I want to mark up the […]

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Licensing Video For A Tribute Show

Thursday, June 5th, 2014

By Brian Taylor Goldstein, Esq.    Dear Law and Disorder: We are in production of a new “Tribute” show with a video component.  We are grappling with what type of media is public domain or where public domain photos or video can be found.  None of the video production companies seem to have a definitive […]

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How Much Is That Artist In The Window?

Thursday, April 24th, 2014

By Brian Taylor Goldstein, Esq.    Dear Law and Disorder My ensemble has been approached by a composer/musician who would like them to do two days of recording for music that she is composing for a theater company. My understanding is that this theater company does quite a bit of touring. Do musicians typically get […]

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Beware of Easy Solutions

Thursday, April 17th, 2014

By Brian Taylor Goldstein, Esq. A conductor we manage has been invited to conduct one of the orchestras of a University in the United States later this year. He has worked there once before when he conducted performances when he had a J-1 visa. On this occasion however due to the short length of the […]

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