Common Threads

[Casey H]

There are some common threads running through posts on a few forum threads. I thought I'd post a few major points to summarize things that can prevent people from encountering a lot of grief later.(1) Co-writing/Collaboration: From the very start, sign a Collaboration Agreement. You can find a good template at http://www.johnbraheny.com/bus/colcont.html ... In this agreement you specify percentage splits (don't be naive and think that people don't fight about this, after the fact, all the time!!) and very important: Establish Power Or Attorney rules!!. One party can be the POA who can sign any deals for the work created. A single party as POA is the safest and most effective. Some folks make it the person who originated the song concept.I have heard of people signing that both parties must sign for a deal but in the event someone does not respond to a contact request within N days, the other has POA. I don't know all the legal issues of that and I am not sure how the party you are signing with would view that. It could get messy. There is the approach that either party has POA for non-exclusive deals, but both signatures are required for exclusive. But that raises issues. As has been discussed here before, multiple non-exclusives for the same song can be dangerous. And for an exclusive offer, you still have the issue of what if one party can't be reached?Personally, I vote for the single POA. But everyone who works together obviously has to be comfortable.You hear all the time about people who co-wrote with someone, had a deal 5 years later and couldn't find the other party. Anne mentioned on another thread how she is struggling with this right now.(2) Musician's Releases: Whenever you hire people to perform on a demo for you, if you intend to pitch film/TV, get a signed release that states you own all rights to the master recording, free and clear of any additional payments, royalties, or fees. (Not exact or legal wording). MANY people have lost deals by not having these or have signed deals that they legally shouldn't have. Even if your original target was not film/TV, you never know what you will want to do later so you should get these. There are situations whereby musicians will not provide this due to union issues. If that's the case, then you have to decide if you are OK with the demo being for "song" pitches only.Taking care of these two things, at the get-go, can save you tons of grief down the road.Practice safe music... Casey

[tedsingingfox]

Thanks again for throwing this out for everybody.The co-write thing is great to know for several future projects, but the release forms are something I'm waiting to have sent to me as we speak.

[ciskokidd]

Hey Casey,Great post! Although it always feels awkward to ask people to sign legal forms, it's vitally necessary to get all this clear up front so that there are no misunderstandings at a later date.People's memories distort over time and what they thought they agreed on verbally can be totally different from either party's current point of view.When you get it in writing, it's all there in black and white.Well done, Cisco

[djdeweese]

Thanks for the reminder. It can be hard to incorporate the part where you ask friends/fellow musicians to sign legal documents into the creative process, but if you hope to use the music for anything outside the studio you have to treat it like a business relationship too.