The whole issue of APRA and EMI/producers music has errupted again, as i’m a member of ASCAP, i’m able to license the songs I write as I choose. As APRA is a monopoly the artist does not have this right.
APRA claims that their terms are not for-ever, yet as i’m the songwriter and was manipulated into giving co-write up to all my producers prior to being a full member and already previously having tittle to songs in my name, APRA persist through a net of lies/confusion.
Now i’m with ASCAP, APRA want go into dispute as I’m not one of their writers anymore, this has grid locked the song. It is a 10 percent share of the song, yet that 10 percent still hold’s true from APRA’s point of view and controls the other 90 percent. (even with no agrement to tie the threads together), as i don’t have a lawyer with a publisher and the rights organizations do technically work for the publishing industry, its not an easy situation to solve.
I’m a little down on myself, so its hard to protect licenses that don’t function in the old system. The internet is a copy machine and for the artist that wants to be heard the old system does not work, for the artist without a publisher that wants to get paid, i also don’t feel the old system works.
In my instance, the practical thing for me would be to side with EMI and get them to protect my rights and thus, get paid more and more quickly, i would hope. Yet I did write the songs and no co-write was ever created, APRA are supposed to protect rights of the authors not the producers that twist their way into publishing.
As the producers were signed to EMI music and one to mushroom, they should know to get the artist to sign a co-write agreement, yet producers (with publishers) and people already in the publishing business, know how the game goes and know how best to exploit the artist to their means, even if it means wasting years of effort. Bottom line is that getting a share of the song, is a big deal for the producer with a publisher. Artists with no manager, label, publisher on their first album are going to always be taken for a ride, yet if the producers don’t have their legal dice together, then why would/should the artist be cursed.
The system is not made for the innovator, yet what system ever is, at the end of all this, the song is what suffers, EMI or the producers put no effort into publishing the recording and the artist ends up taking it around the world on not ecomically viable terms. Then when i leave the rights organization to use creative commons licenses, i’m told i have all my rights back and the issue of co-write has nothing to do with APRA, when a major film company comes along and uses the song, sudenly EMI music wants to get in with the song.
I realize how these people that work in these rights organizations are extreamly protective of the territory that they lay claim over.
I sometimes want to direct license the songs i play and write direct to venues, so its imperative that the song belongs 100 percent to me, as it does, cause i wrote it and paid for the whole production.
to finish: The reason why this has all come up is that i created a license that gave 2000 dollars for the use of the song “How Far”, that i paid to a chairity project called unculutred, APRA agread that i could do this, i checked with them prior to license going out.
to finish this::: Sure their are problems with creative commons licenses, as they are a broad license and music and publishing industry is very specific about what it wants. Yet how to create something in the middle?
One big problem with the creative commons license is that 90 percent of works go out under a non-commercial license, yet almost everything can be considered a commercial use, as the law makes no destinction between what a non-commercial/ commercial. The NC license looks good to the public, yet its kind of wierd for the artist, as most artists don’t get to consider the freedoms from copyrights point of view, and even understand what a fully free license is, different laws rules, rights, and regulations are in place in all countries for copyright, some of this is very cultural.
Who can know what the solution is, yet i’m feeling very steam rolled and stressed, and this is for sure very taxing on my own personal life.