CD Replication: Recommended Licensing Tips and Considerations

So, your band just finished recording their first album and are now trying to get 1000 retail-ready CD’s inside shiny jewel cases, with killer graphics and the whole prerequisite bells & whistles for a CD replication project. Best for you and your band – it is certainly not a trivial undertaking!

But WAIT, there are potential land-mines around the corner if you’re not careful. Have you covered someone else’s song? Do you may have samples of another artist’s music in your CD? What about copyright issues – both in your material, and anyone else’s? Unless you pay careful attention to the finer details, that you may get burned – legally or otherwise… Ouch!

The following tips, recommendations, considerations and answers to common questions so that it will help prevent you from falling into any land-mines or legal licensing pot holes and assist you to move forward on a successful CD replication project:

Covering Someone Else’s Song:

While many artists think it’s okay to cover someone else’s original performance without the required mechanical license – especially if there aren’t any samples of that performance on their disc – you might be in a legal grey-area and run the danger of having problems afterward. It’s therefore recommended that you just obtain the mechanical license to observe copyright laws and to properly pay royalties to the original songwriter.

Tips and suggestions:

• Contact the Harry Fox Agency in Manhattan. Here which you could obtain the license and prepay royalty fees. When you’re replicating below 2500 CD units, you may complete your application online by visiting the Song File website.

• Perhaps a more sensible choice, though more time consuming is to contact the copyright holder directly and negotiate a royalty rate. This might be a more robust choice for you in case your CD sells well. In an effort to find out who owns the song’s copyright you’ll have to contact American Society of Composers, Authors & Publishers (ASCAP)

Sampling Other Artist’s Songs:

This is not really a grey-area, but a set rule:

• While you’re sampling another artist’s material (irrespective of how small that sample), you desire to obtain the correct license – period!

Tips and suggestions:

• This license is named a Master Use License. You can’t replicate copies of your CD without this licensing paperwork. Any replicator or CD replication company who makes you copies is potentially liable without this license – and should be very firm on this point and should not proceed along with your order until it is easy to produce it.

• Again, one can find out who owns the rights to songs by contacting ASCAP. There aren’t any exceptions to this rule, so be prepared just before time and don’t get your project rejected by your CD replication partner.

Q: What is a IP Replication Rights Form?

A: Most reputable CD replication companies have joined the Anti-Piracy Compliance Program run by the International Recording Media Association (IRMA). The IRMA protects copyright holders (owners) from unauthorized duplication of their materials (intellectual property). The IRMA also goes after pirates and replicators who duplicate unauthorized product. What this suggests to you is that in the event you try and duplicate discs with someone else’s content, without the support rights paperwork you must loose your masters and money as your CD replication company gets closed down by the IRMA.

• Obviously this will likely be an extreme example, but the threat remains and no reputable replication company would take the chance. They might simply reject your masters and refuse to copy – and plenty of change a cancellation fee. It’s your responsibility to collect the mandatory licenses/releases earlier than time.

Q: How do I copyright my own materials?

A: You are going to get in contact with the u. s. Library of Congress ( www.copyright.gov ) to request the forms needed to copyright your music.

• Once complete, send them the form, a duplicate of your recorded materials (on CD), a lyric sheet and the registration fee. Within several weeks you will receive confirmation that your material was copyrighted.

• Once copyrighted you need to seek a licensing agency who can track all radio plays of your songs and pay you for any royalties due.

In Conclusion:

Cutting your master disc is purely the beginning to your road to a successful CD release. Before the rest, you have to make sure to have the licensing paperwork in place. In case you send a master to a CD replication company who doesn’t ask you for IPR paperwork – RUN! Piracy is a large problem inside the industry and agencies like the IRMA are actively pursuing those individuals and firms not following the principles. You will have been warned.