Cutting and artistic rights

[Discomo]

I was wondering if any troll has ever received claims or warnings of artistic / legal rights organizations for manufacturing records. I personally have not. But I know (in The Netherlands) that if a pressing facility wants to press a record they are legally obliged to ask permission by such a legal rights organization, even if the music of the particular musician is not protected by any pro organization. Wondered if such is applicable to cutting or if relatively small editions (assuming cutters will not cut editions of 100 or more or even 50 or more) are not prone to that.
I’m personally not planning to contact them, but will be interested to know if such things have happened in the past or can potentially happen and especially how to deal with such possible claims.

[Discomo]

To be a bit more precise, I’m talking about music which was not published before and will be /was cut with clear permission of the artist. The music is self released by the artist but cut by me.

[Discomo]

Refreshing this. Hope someone can share experience.

[emorritt]

Music licensing isn't as difficult as it may seem. If you're cutting something for an artist, it's their material (just as you said, not published) and they're "releasing" the material themselves, you're fine. Even a pressing plant probably won't question that process, although they may ask for a document or statement from the artist that it is their own material and they will be selling the pressings at shows, online, etc.

When it comes to existing music, if an individual or band creates their own "cover" of a song - where they add some sort of twist to the original performance, or even if they just outright perform the number themselves, you need what is called a mechanical license. These are generally available from the Harry Fox agency (named for vaudevillian Harry Fox; namesake of the Fox Trot dance). The fees vary, depending on the popularity of the song and how many copies you want to produce. The Songfile search engine on their website helps locate rights owners and there are forms you can fill out to get a quote for a mechanical license. If you have a group that records a cover, then asks you to master it and have pressings made for them, if you don't have a mechanical license two things can happen. The pressing plant won't process the order or if they do, you and the performers can get sued, bigtime. Outright copying music from a recording, file or other means, cutting it and having it pressed will get you in even deeper trouble, unless the song is public domain. There have been companies in the past that have released things like "Greatest Hits of the 70s" with actual recordings of original artists performing hit songs all on one record. K-Tel and others were great for doing this. I'm sure the licensing and royalties may have been astronomical, but these albums were widely advertised on TV and radio, which boosted sales.

So that's a crash course in licensing for pressing. As far as cutting a dub for someone, I do that on a regular basis. One copy of one song isn't going to break the bank. Jukebox collectors are a major source for orders like these. One guy had kids that wanted to hear current music on Dad's jukebox, so he ordered a few dubs of current songs (been almost 10 years ago, so I don't recall which songs) but things like that could be considered a format conversion, which in small quantities (e.g. one) really aren't prosecutable. Not that you should put ads out stating that you'll put new, digital music on a 45 for your jukebox - but if someone approaches you and asks, I don't see any harm in doing it. Most everything I've cut either as a dub or a master has been original music, or something for a record label, with a few jukebox dubs here and there. Not many at all. Hope this helps.

[Discomo]

Thanks for the crashcourse
But I know how it works in theory and after a few decades of publishing both my own work as that of others I haven't encountered problems on this terrain.
My question was however, not so much how it works in theory, but if anyone has had negative experiences with such instancies.

[emorritt]

OK, I misunderstood. I haven't had any issues with masters for pressing or dubs. The pressing masters were licensed and other original work that was pressed, I think the client supplied me a rights statement to send to the pressing plant about the material being original. Don't know about others.

[Discomo]

OK, I misunderstood. I haven't had any issues with masters for pressing or dubs. The pressing masters were licensed and other original work that was pressed, I think the client supplied me a rights statement to send to the pressing plant about the material being original. Don't know about others.

Thanks for your kind answer
The subject interests me, because although I'm not aware of any penalties given to lathe-cutters of micro editions (20-50), maybe someone has had negative experiences, or has heard of any.
But let's hope that the fact nobody's responding, is a good sign.

[tragwag]

Yeah I got a cease and desist from a lawyer representing a US band. A client of mine ordered single copies for personal use of a few live recordings, which seemed unintended for official release by the band. I made the records, the client shared on instagram and boom I had a very serious cease and desist - worded as if I was bootlegging 1,000 quantity of official looking copies meant to undercut the band.

[boryo]

Yeah I got a cease and desist from a lawyer representing a US band. A client of mine ordered single copies for personal use of a few live recordings, which seemed unintended for official release by the band. I made the records, the client shared on instagram and boom I had a very serious cease and desist - worded as if I was bootlegging 1,000 quantity of official looking copies meant to undercut the band.

Ohhhh, that's some serious sh*t! I hope you handled it! How about you write in your Terms and conditions page that the client is responsible for the content they provide and you just put it on record? You can not know all the music in the world... also, don't ask for names, just send them 1 sheet of labels so they print it themselves. This is what I would do in such a case

[tragwag]

Yeah I got a cease and desist from a lawyer representing a US band. A client of mine ordered single copies for personal use of a few live recordings, which seemed unintended for official release by the band. I made the records, the client shared on instagram and boom I had a very serious cease and desist - worded as if I was bootlegging 1,000 quantity of official looking copies meant to undercut the band.

Ohhhh, that's some serious sh*t! I hope you handled it! How about you write in your Terms and conditions page that the client is responsible for the content they provide and you just put it on record? You can not know all the music in the world... also, don't ask for names, just send them 1 sheet of labels so they print it themselves. This is what I would do in such a case

that's exactly what I did, yeah! a short legal statement about the client not-knowingly infringing on copyright