RichardT wrote: ↑Wed Dec 22, 2021 10:02 pm Hi Petros, in cases like this I think there is no substitute for talking to an actual copyright attorney.

Which is likely to cost more than $85.

What they're telling me is if peace of mind is worth $85, then register the derivative works of your own songs. But other than that it's like a waste of money. "Damages" in an actual infringement case are a very grey area. The thing I have in the back of my mind is quite ridiculous: A judg...

I agree with Watchmaker, I think you're confusing things. You've registered a copyright on the songs. Registering a copyright on the mastered recordings is not a derivative work, it is a separate copyright. If you want to be fully protected* then you need to do both. It would be worth reading up a ...

I just thought of something else. If this makes sense to anyone please reply: I have already secured copyright registration for authorship of the songs. Even though I've created "derivative" works by adding instrumentation to the sound recordings submitted at the time of registration, give...

If you are an artist and producer and claim both the song and the master, you can file once and claim both in one shot. That is what you are supposed to do so you don’t have to pay twice. Form SR can be used for both, if the parties are exactly the same for both song and master. https://www.copyrig...

I'm in the United States of America. Songs were registered with the US Library Of Congress Copyright Office, but again though these recordings were adequate to demonstrate the songs, the recordings were not quite finished and the mastered recordings have additional instrumentation added. I should se...

There are two types of copyrights, one for the song and one for the recording. I understand the value of registering a copyright for the sake of the song, and as a songwriter I submitted recordings for the songs using recordings that were not yet finished but that clearly demonstrated the song. Thes...

Right. With Pro Publishing deal CDBaby takes 15%. But if they do a sync licensing deal for you I believe it's more like 40%. With all these distributors it looks like either you pay up front a high amount and then get to keep all your royalties, or you pay a meager fee and the distributor takes a cu...

What advantage is there going with CDBaby Pro? Well, first let's recap my own dilemma (now altered because of new knowledge regarding the limits of a copyright holder): If after I release one of my songs in recorded form I cannot stop another artist from doing a cover of it as long as the person obt...

Here's something else I just discovered today (with some help). Once you as songwriter/copyright owner release the first version of your song, you can't stop another artist from doing a cover version if they obtain a mechanical license (and a sync license if they do a video of the cover version). Yo...

The situation you describe is easily avoidable. Most distribution platforms do NOT do what you describe and if you have found that language in the CDBaby terms simply use one of the many other platforms that do not do this kind of thing. If the distributor is also a "publishing administrator,&...

Or you could consider that if a cover is going to massively outsell your own version what does that say about your own version? It could be that there hasn't been enough time for my version to get attention. Of course, an indie artist doesn't have resources like one of the five major record labels....

I appreciate the responses above and Thanks. I know from another forum many people say that for an unknown artist exposure of your music trumps control over it, and that when someone does a cover of your song it CAN be a good thing (assuming it's done legally). However, there's more than just my ego...

I'm so stuck on this issue it's holding up the release of my music. The basic issue is you're an emerging independent artist, a singer-songwriter, and you're performing your own works. Do you: 1. Go with a distributor that also acts like a "publishing administrator" (e.g., CDBaby) to explo...

I've tried to reach out to reps with CDBaby and I'm not getting a response. Hoping someone here might have had the same concerns as me if they signed up for CDBaby Pro Publishing deal. They affiliate you with BMI or ASCAP and will collect royalties for streaming over the internet, which those two or...

I received a reply from CDBaby rep. Note there's an addendum to the contract agreement that is for sync licensing, and by signing it you're giving CDBaby the okay to have your music appear in things like videos, movies, video games, etc. I had a question about whether the songwriter/member is inform...

You are missing the fact that Spotify et al make two payments for each play. The recording element (roughly 0.3p in the UK) and the writers element (roughly 0.1p in the UK). CD Baby will collect the recording element for you but you need to sign up to PRO or one of the other schemes discussed earli...

Thanks for the replies. I contacted CDBaby on this. Waiting for a response.

However isn't it better to pay the one off fee with Songtrust and then go for the standard CDBbaby release, and Songtrust will do that work from then on with no other outlay? Within a few tracks you will have made the money spent back vs CDBaby Pro . Here's what I'm reading from the Songtrust websi...

TheLegit wrote: ↑Fri Jul 02, 2021 5:25 pm If you look at CDBaby Pro's offerings they will do all the publishing and performing society collections for $29.95 per track.

-In the US it's $69 for a "Pro" album release. So much better not to go with a per track signup.