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Music Copyright War Looming
quarterbuck writes with this excerpt from the NY Times:
"When copyright law was revised in the mid-1970s, musicians, like creators of other works of art, were granted 'termination rights,' which allow them to regain control of their work after 35 years, so long as they apply at least two years in advance. Recordings from 1978 are the first to fall under the purview of the law, but in a matter of months, hits from 1979, like 'The Long Run' by the Eagles and 'Bad Girls' by Donna Summer, will be in the same situation. ... 'We believe the termination right doesn’t apply to most sound recordings,' said Steven Marks, general counsel for the Recording Industry Association of America, a lobbying group in Washington that represents the interests of record labels. As the record companies see it, the master recordings belong to them in perpetuity, rather than to the artists who wrote and recorded the songs, because, the labels argue, the records are 'works for hire,' compilations created not by independent performers but by musicians who are, in essence, their employees."
Yeah, they were way more expensive than those master recordings. But if you have the means, I highly recommend it.
Expect "clarifications" to this law any day now--just like Congress constantly revises copyright law to make sure that nothing past 1923 is EVER out of copyright (after generous campaign contributions from the good people at Disney, of course).
And if you're thinking there is anything that you as a citizen can do, don't you worry your pretty little head about it. With both major parties supporting pro-industry IP legislation, there is really nothing you can do about it. But if you want a nice form letter to frame, you can go ahead and waste a stamp and write to your Congressman.
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
OK, fine. They were employees. You did file all the IRS paperwork required for an employee, didn't you? No? Hello, RIAA this is the IRS. We'd like to review some matters with you...
Independent copyright experts, however, find that argument unconvincing. Not only have recording artists traditionally paid for the making of their records themselves, with advances from the record companies that are then charged against royalties, they are also exempted from both the obligations and benefits an employee typically expects.
“This is a situation where you have to use your own common sense,” said June M. Besek, executive director of the Kernochan Center for Law, Media and the Arts at the Columbia University School of Law. “Where do they work? Do you pay Social Security for them? Do you withdraw taxes from a paycheck? Under those kinds of definitions it seems pretty clear that your standard kind of recording artist from the ’70s or ’80s is not an employee but an independent contractor.”
Two things though. First, as a software developer your contract with your employer states explicitly that the copyright on code you produce rests with your employer, not you. If it didn't, the default rules are that you own the code, not the company. Second. software developers like that are also W2 employees, not independent contractors. And that makes a difference. There's been several run-ins between companies and the IRS about employee status, and the labels may be walking into a minefield. If the artists really are employees, not independent contractors, then the labels are responsible for payroll tax withholding, unemployment insurance payments, employer's portion of SSI and Medicare taxes, etc. etc..
The typical recording contract of that era was expressly designed to avoid being categorized as 'work for hire' as it would mean a shorter copyright term. The recording contracts were also designed to bilk the artists out of their royalties by requiring them to bear a very long list of costs. Work for hire has a very specific meaning in copyright law. The labels can't redefine the meaning retrospectively. Or at least they can't unless they can bribe Congress to do it for them.
Looking for an Information Security student project suggestion?
Try http://dotcrimeManifesto.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Work_for_hire
Giving it a read might help you arm-chair lawyers, but I'll skip to an easily digested sound bite for everyone:
A "work made for hire" is— (1) a work prepared by an employee within the scope of his or her employment
On the other hand, if the work is created by an independent contractor or freelancer, the work may be considered a work for hire only if all of the following conditions are met: * the work must come within one of the nine limited categories of works listed in the definition above, namely (1) a contribution to a collective work, (2) a part of a motion picture or other audiovisual work, (3) a translation, (4) a supplementary work, (5) a compilation, (6) an instructional text, (7) a test, (8) answer material for a test, (9) an atlas; * the work must be specially ordered or commissioned; * there must be a written agreement between the parties specifying that the work is a work made for hire.
So, put simply you either have to be a regular 9-5er employee (which I think it's clear the vast majority of musicians are not), or you have to fulfil a pretty specific list of requirements which includes an explicit clause in their contract that it be a work for hire. Long story short, they've got no case.