1. ACKY BREAKY RULES! Copyright, Performance & Recording Licenses Presented by: JD Crowe, Membership Coordinator Region 16 Leadership School (Syracuse NY) June 10, 2007 Excerpts from a presentation by Judith Galloway, CTC, Region 24

2. Copyright Laws United States: Section 106 of the 1976 Copyright Act generally gives the owner of the copyright exclusive right to do and to authorize others to do the following: Reproduce the work in copies or recordings Prepare derivative works based upon the work Distribute copies and/or recordings of the work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership or by rental, lease or lending Perform the work publicly Perform the work publicly by means of a digital audio transmission (in the case of sound recordings) Canadian Copyright Act recognizes three main rights: Right to produce or copy the musical work Right to reproduce the musical work, including mechanical rights and synchronization rights Performing rights: perform a work in public and communicate to the public by telecommunication

3. Definitions: Copyright Terms Copyright The exclusive legal right to reproduce, publish and sell the matter and form of a literary, musical or artistic work. Note: No international copyright law currently exists that will protect a work in every country of the world. Copyright Holder One who has the legal right or exclusive title to something: owner Copyright Fees Under copyright law, the owner may grant permission to reproduce, sell, publish, distribute or perform the copyrighted material. The owner may charge a fee for that permission. A royalty or copyright fee is payment to the owner of the copyright.

4. Definitions: Public Domain Public Domain Consists of any kind of inspired work. It can be used by anybody for any purpose and it may be changed, rewritten. Canada Under Canadian law, a musical work is copyright protected if its author is still living or if the author is less than 50 years ago. If more than 50 years have elapsed, the work is said to be “in the public domain”. United States The 1986 rulings extended the duration of American copyright to the author’s life plus 75 years. If a song was written before 1923, its copyright has expired and the song is considered to be public domain.

5. Definitions: Performance Licensing Each time a song is performed in public, the songwriter is entitled to receive royalty income for that public performance. To eliminate the need to negotiate separate licenses, songwriters or their music publishers affiliate with performing rights societies: ASCAP : American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (1914) www.ascap.com www.ascap.com BMI: Broadcast Music Inc. (1939) www.bmi.comwww.bmi.com SESAC – Society of European Stage Authors and Composers (1930) www.sesac.com www.sesac.com SOCAN : Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (1925/1990) www.socan.cawww.socan.ca

6. Definitions: Mechanical Licensing A mechanical license grants the right to reproduce and distribute copyrighted musical compositions (songs), including uses on phonorecords (ie. CDs, records, tapes and certain digital configurations). Harry Fox Agency (1927) www.harryfox.comwww.harryfox.com Represents music publishers for their mechanical and digital licensing needs Issues licenses and collects and distributes royalties. This includes licensing for the recording and reproduction of CDs, ringtones and internet downloads. CMRRA – Canadian Musical Reproduction Rights Agency (1975) www.cmrra.ca www.cmrra.ca Represents the vast majority of music copyright owners (usually called music publishers) doing business in Canada. Distributes proceeds to publishers who then are to distribute the songwriter portion to the songwriter.

7. Definition: Synchronization Licensing Songwriters can authorize someone to use their song with visual images. The song is synchorized with the visual images. A synchronization license gives you permission to use a song (lyrics and music) on a video project Like a mechanical license, you must obtain one for each song in the project from the songs ’ owners Y ou may be required to pay a royalty for each song use Synchronization fees are subject to negotiation and vary according to the popularity of the song and the importance of the song in the visual piece.

8. Legal Sheet Music Don’t try to get around the rules! Be supportive of the rights and privileges of the song writers and publishers. This is our hobby – it is their business!

9. Purchasing Music Purchase enough legal copies of the music for everyone (including guest and new member books) Keep written documentation as proof of purchase Barbershop Harmony Society (BHS) www.barbershop.org www.barbershop.org Own the rights on many public domain songs arranged for men, women and mixed voices Published arrangements have been fully licensed by BHS for printing and distribution to its members for $1.65 per copy and $2.20 to non-members Some BHS arrangements are FREE of any copyright. These “Free,n Easy” songs are on the BHS website Sweet Adelines International (SAI) www.sweetadelineintl.orgwww.sweetadelineintl.org Music copyrighted and sold through SAI to its members is now $1.20 per copy and $1.80 to non-members. There is no such thing as FREE music from SAI. New copies of Harmonize The World and How We Sang Today are no longer FREE

10. Documenting Legal Music When the music was purchased How many copies were paid for How many copies are available for guests (still has to fit within the per copy count that the group paid for) Names of those with working copy When the working copies are returned and destroyed If the music was originally, legally purchased and documented, then the purchaser can legally re-use the music

11. Individual Copies of Music Sheet music given to you at a school or workshop should look legal and should be announced that it is your copy (you don’t have an invoice for the music!) If you receive music that doesn’t look legal, don’t keep it! You can purchase legal single copies of sheet music Mark YOUR copy with: Received/purchased _____(date)_____ Where What for Your name The piece of music is a legal copy for YOU and you ONLY and you want/need to remember where it came from It is NOT legal to make copies of this music for your friends, quartet or chorus

12. Purchasing from an Arranger Arrangers work with the copyright owners to get permission to write arrangements The fees we pay to an arranger include the copyright fees (flat fee and a per copy fee) which will be passed on to the copyright holder (often a publisher) of the song, based on the agreement that the arranger has with the copyright holder. In most cases, the arrangement belongs to the copyright holder not the arranger

13. Protecting the Original Music Most of us write on our music as we learn a song It is legal to make one working/learning copy for each singer (and guest or new member book) based on the number of copies the chorus or quartet originally paid for You can’t make more copies than the number you paid for Make working copies on colored paper, and clearlymark it with a label or stamp that says “Property of XYZ Chorus. Working copy for ____name ____, _____date distributed_____. Store the clean, original music safely away When the chorus or quartet is finished with this song, all working copies should be returned and destroyed.

14. Making Changes to the Music Any changes should be approved by the copyright holder (this could be a slow or impossible process since copyright holders don’t have to respond to such requests!) Arrangers can not give permission for you to tweak an arrangement, ultimately that right belongs solely to the copyright holder When writing parodies, be respectful of the rights of the copyright holder. If it is to be widely performed or used on a contest stage get permission from the copyright holder to write and use the parody. “Common sense should be used for minor adjustments … we should be prudent in changes, respectful of the music.” Carol Schwarts (SAI) “It’s my understanding that small changes like re-voicing a chord or two and changing an intro or tag is not a critical issue. The copyright owners don’t like for the words and basic melody to be changed, however.” Joe Liles (BHS)

15. Posting on a Webpage Choruses and quartets can post music on their website for their members to use as a working/learning copy, however The chorus must do everything possible to protect the music The music must be posted in a members only section of the website with password protection Records must be kept to insure that the number of downloads is less than or equal to the number of original copies that were paid for by the chorus or quartet.

16. Educational Audio Copy It is legal for your chorus or quartet to record just one educational copy for the chorus or quartet without paying for a Mechanical License It is NOT LEGAL to make one recorded copy for each member without paying for a Mechanical License

17. Tracks Received for Workshops Learning CDs or tapes that you receive before or in conjunction with workshops are legally ONLY yours The Mechanical License has been paid for by the organization that recorded the CD or tape Mark YOUR copy with: Received/purchased _____(date)_____ Where What for Your name It is not legal to make copies of the CD or tape for your friends, quartet or chorus

18. Duplicating Learning Trax It is popular to provide our members with learning trax (CD or tape) for learning new music If you purchase only one CD, you cannot duplicate it for distribution to your members unless you have paid for making copies Members can make an audio working copy for educational purposes for learning the music Recording parts of a rehearsal or making their own personal recording of the learning CD for the purpose of learning the music is OK when done on a personal/individual basis The chorus/quartet is encouraged to keep appropriate written records for learning tracks that they order and/or duplicate for the group (ie. Who has then, how many, dates, etc) The maker of the learning tracks can not give permission to duplicate the published song

19. Learning Trax on Website When you apply/pay for the Mechanical License for recording/duplicating a song you will be able to explain how you are planning to use the number of recordings that you paid for Once purchased, choruses and quartets can post the learning trax on their website for their members to access as a learning tool As with sheet music, chorus must ensure that the learning trax are protected (members only, password protected, etc) Written records must be kept to count the number of downloads that occur in order to stay below the number of duplications that were licensed.

20. Suggestions 1. Develop a simple record-keeping system for documenting all music. 2. Do not keep copies of music which you can not prove ownership. 3. For new arrangements, purchase more than enough for current members, guest and new member books. 4. Make a working copy for each member and store the clean originals. 5. When you are finished with the working copies, collect and destroy them. 6. If you want the chorus responsible for making copies of learning tracks for all of your members and guests, make arrangements with the Harry Fox Agency, CMRRA, BHS or SAI to pay for the necessary Mechanical Licenses. 7. YES – to avoid paying the Mechanical License fee, you can ask your members to record their own educational copy of the learning trax. 8. If you bring an old song back into your repertoire, make sure it is legal. 9. Keep all written records up to date – stay on top of the project. 10. If you are not sure, ask! Barbershop Harmony Society and at SAI can help. www.barbershop.org and www.Sweetadelineintl.comwww.barbershop.orgwww.Sweetadelineintl.com