I have a set of tracks that were released in 1984 on vinyl. About half the album was either written or co-written by myself. We - being a rock band - came up with a cool publishing company title, and our management ostensibly handled that part. I assume the pub company was tied to the management in some way, though not sure. And there was no signature exchange or paperwork that I can recall.
Frankly, who knows anymore, to be honest.
The management team fell apart after we all bailed on them. The album continues to carry the publishing company name, obviously (no more pressings than the initial thousand - not a real big seller...). At that point in my career, I knew not about the music biz. Now, I am a little more aware and wish I had better covered my bases at that point. However... it is what it is.
So, these titles have been registered on my PRO for a while. When I entered them, I used the name of the Pub company. Now, it occurs to me that those two management bozos certainly don't care about that album, they've both moved, and I'm betting they have no further physical connections to the release (as in receiving mail for the company, etc...), let alone interest.
Question: Can I legally change the pub for the tracks in my PRO to the writers? Is there some kind of statute of limitations on things like this?
Casey
