The Songwriter Forum - songwriting reviews, tips and chat
Songwriter Forum => Resources & Marketing => Topic started by: zanshin777 on November 10, 2016, 07:15:24 PM
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1) Could you give ideas and suggestions protecting the material you created in a band?
2) When the guys you play and you break up then they use your material in their songs what should you do?
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From memory (so I could be wrong) the copyrightable parts of a song are generally the melody and the lyrics.
No one can claim to 'own' a chord sequence for example. And I think if you get in the situation where you are arguing over how much someones bass riff adds to the song or how important a drum fill is then you're probably in the realms of needing lawyers to sort it out I would think.
If your songs never make it big this will never be an issue.
If you think you might need protection though, my suggestion would be to have a written agreement that everyone in the band has equal ownership or decide on the ownership of each song as it's written.
One other solution in this modern age might be to record all writing sessions but it kind of goes against the spirit of things a little and will probably stifle creativity,me specially if people are afraid to come up with ideas when away from the group.
Yodasdad
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Perfect answer from YODASDAD!
Nothing more to add other than read the above response again! :D
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Assigning percentages in a band situation is the worst kind of politics ever. Having been in a couple, and observed how other bands so it, here's my take:
If you bring a (nearly) finished song to a band, by all means insist on keeping the writing credits and royalties. But if your song emerges from everyone playing together in the room, even if you create the melody and the words, an even split among everyone is the way to go, especially if you get a sniff of success, and want the band to last more than a couple of years.
Music is (generally) better when its collaborative, and I think distribution of credit should reflect that. Sometimes, the way a song is played is as important as the song itself.
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Thank you very much all for the response.
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"One other solution in this modern age might be to record all writing sessions"
How by the way?
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Sometimes, the way a song is played is as important as the song itself.
That's a point worth pondering. It's also a rabbit hole.......