Financial Question: Leasing rights of an audio recording t..

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

The audio:
I went to a comedy club and recorded the entire evenings show. I got
a feed from the comedians stage mic and I also set up a pair of omnis
in the room to get the crowd and the ambient room sound. The comedian
loves the way it turned out. He said it is the best he has ever
heard.

The politics:
We originally went to make a DVD for the featured comic. There was a
two-man film crew (company#1) and me, the one man audio crew
(company#2). I was recording to make an audio CD for the comic and to
provide additional audio support for the DVD. Well, the DVD project
fell through because the video footage was pretty shoddy. Out of
focus, etc. There was never a contract between anybody and we all
quickly forgot about the DVD project that could have been. I am still
sitting on the audio footage for the entire evening (4opening acts and
one headliner act we travelled with). The headliner guy finally left
town and has a crack problem. Sad, because we could have made a very
nice audio CD. Time passed. Company#1 and company#2 distanced
themselves for personal reasons.

I just received a phone call from the video guy (company#1).
Apparently, one of the opening comdey acts has contacted him to make a
video sampler for promotional use. The video guy wants to "get a
copy" of the audio from me (company#2) to use in the sampler video.
Do I give it to him like a business fool? Do I lease it to him? How
much? Do I sell it to him? Do I tell him no and then contact the
comedian for an audio CD sampler instead? (that is not my personality)

Although I recorded a kick ass audio memoir of that evening, I am not
good with the business side of things...and I will probably offend him
if I dont just give him a copy...but I need to play it smart
businesswise, because this is now my only dayjob and I need to pay
rent!

thx for any advice. I have learned recording nuances from this NG for
the past 5 years, but I am a business moron. I now need to learn
about the business end and how to charge appropriately for my services
and contracts, etc. Is there a recommended book, site, resource?

thx,
frenchy

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

EGO wrote:

> It's a big difference if you have already edited, etc. this audio.
> You have put even more work into it. He wants to use it to get himself
> paid, so you need to be paid. Even if it is two hours editing/copying
> plus postage, etc. you need it handed to you like it's hot.


I think it also depends on who owns the material, and what agreement was
made up front. OP did go into some of that, I realize.

Even if it's for his "demo reel", it's owned by someone, I'd imagine.

This all in addition to your rate, for whatever you do.

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

On 28 Sep 2004 14:39:23 -0700, ego2001@hotmail.com (EGO) wrote:

>they call me frenchy! <NOfrenchySPAM@NOsmackdabmusicSPAM.com> wrote in message news:<bg9jl01kigbc1a2bb2iv54haqao6u25vt5@4ax.com>...
>> The audio:
>> I went to a comedy club and recorded the entire evenings show. I got
>> a feed from the comedians stage mic and I also set up a pair of omnis
>> in the room to get the crowd and the ambient room sound. The comedian
>> loves the way it turned out. He said it is the best he has ever
>> heard.
>>
>> The politics:
>> We originally went to make a DVD for the featured comic. There was a
>> two-man film crew (company#1) and me, the one man audio crew
>> (company#2). I was recording to make an audio CD for the comic and to
>> provide additional audio support for the DVD. Well, the DVD project
>> fell through because the video footage was pretty shoddy. Out of
>> focus, etc. There was never a contract between anybody and we all
>> quickly forgot about the DVD project that could have been. I am still
>> sitting on the audio footage for the entire evening (4opening acts and
>> one headliner act we travelled with). The headliner guy finally left
>> town and has a crack problem. Sad, because we could have made a very
>> nice audio CD. Time passed. Company#1 and company#2 distanced
>> themselves for personal reasons.
>>
>> I just received a phone call from the video guy (company#1).
>> Apparently, one of the opening comdey acts has contacted him to make a
>> video sampler for promotional use. The video guy wants to "get a
>> copy" of the audio from me (company#2) to use in the sampler video.
>> Do I give it to him like a business fool? Do I lease it to him? How
>> much? Do I sell it to him? Do I tell him no and then contact the
>> comedian for an audio CD sampler instead? (that is not my personality)
>>
>> Although I recorded a kick ass audio memoir of that evening, I am not
>> good with the business side of things...and I will probably offend him
>> if I dont just give him a copy...but I need to play it smart
>> businesswise, because this is now my only dayjob and I need to pay
>> rent!
>>
>> thx for any advice. I have learned recording nuances from this NG for
>> the past 5 years, but I am a business moron. I now need to learn
>> about the business end and how to charge appropriately for my services
>> and contracts, etc. Is there a recommended book, site, resource?
>>
>> thx,
>> frenchy
>
>It's a big difference if you have already edited, etc. this audio.
>You have put even more work into it. He wants to use it to get himself
>paid, so you need to be paid. Even if it is two hours editing/copying
>plus postage, etc. you need it handed to you like it's hot.


What about the original travelling/recording time? Do I forget about
that and just charge for post editing at my hourly rate? How do I
protect myself and become part of the revenue stream if he were to use
my audio in mass distributed CDs or DVDs?

great audio/bad business,
frenchy

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

they call me frenchy! wrote:

> What about the original travelling/recording time? Do I forget about
> that and just charge for post editing at my hourly rate? How do I
> protect myself and become part of the revenue stream if he were to use
> my audio in mass distributed CDs or DVDs?

You need to talk with a music biz lawyer. This all needs to be handled
properly and the chances of you alone managing that are slim just
because you don't have the experience necessary to have this work out
legally and fairly. Trying to do it all yourself could lead to
disappointment or disaster.

--
ha

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

"they call me frenchy!" wrote ...
> Since I recorded it, dont I own the material?

You own the media (if you paid for it and weren't reimbursed).

You own the effort to record it (and whatever post-production
effort). Since you posess the media and in the absense of any
other agreement, you can release the tape as-is (or with whatever
post-production that is agreeable between you and the requestor.

But you certainly don't own the CONTENT of the recording. The
musicians (or comedian or whomever) own the performance, but
unless they wrote the material, neither they nor you own the rights
to distribute copies (whether audio or video).

> And as I stated in the original post, no agreement was made up
> front. The comedian and I had a verbal agreement that said I
> would go record for a) a possible audio CD and b) audio support
> for the DVD. No written contract was ever made between anyone;
> neither me (audio) nor the video guy.

Getting rights to distribute original material from a comedian
for his own release is significantly different than getting rights
to distribute music owned by others.

> How do I learn more about the ins and outs of how I should
> handle this?

The straightforward way would be to consult with an entertainment
attorney. Any other method leaves you unprotected without knowing
your legal rights, responsibilities, liabilities, etc.