TAXI.com

Hi all!
I have a specific situation I want to ask you about.
I have an instrumental which I am not the only author. Unfortunately my friend who participated in creating the music died two years ago. My friend was a professional musician for many years and is well known as such in my country.
I want to submit the instrumental to Taxi listing. What should I put in metadata? I would like to mention my friend but I'm afraid the fact that he's no longer with us would complicate everything. What would you do?

Sorry to hear about your friend.

He is still an author even if he is deceased. Copyright law in the US extends 70 years past death. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright ... ted_States.

If you have no papers which detail your partnership in the music, then most courts would likely award you equal share of the creation.

In the event that the piece is used for monetary gain, the proceeds would be split equally between you.

I would find out who is entitled to your deceased friend's "estate". They would be the ones that stand to benefit from this piece being used.

It could be that they do not want to bother with any participation and if that is the case, I would get a signed statement in writing from them saying that they relinquish all stake in any pieces that your deceased friend had a share in creating etc.

You might have to find an attorney to help you draw up a proper document.

Hope that helps - that seems the most straight forward.

Thank you, Andy. I agree with every word you said.
So, it's going to be complicated. And time consuming.
The first thing I'll do is check the status of this piece at local PRO. Although I don't think he'd bother himself with paperwork of any kind.
Then I'll find entitled person. Again, I don't think there is one.
In any case, that would take time. And there is a dead line on that listing.
Should I mention my friend as a co-writer and deal with details later?
Thanks again!