BAND LAW BASICS
A WORKSHOP for the
MUSICIANS of the KEENE MUSIC FESTIVAL
1. BAND BUSINESS FORMATION
n -- Informal,
no business structure or legal name. Each band member owns their own equipment.
Can create problems when getting paid by check, has to be to one of the band
members, and that person then has to claim the money as income. Can’t have a band
bank account or credit card (like a Musician’s Friend account). Might create conflicts if one band member is
putting out large amounts of money for things like PA or lighting systems. Can
create conflicts over use of name after band changes, and have to be clear
about who owns what copyrights for originals.
n -- Legal
name/trade name/fictitious name registration. Person listed on the registration
owns the name. Have to file and pay for renewals regularly. Can get an EIN for
a trade name, which would allow for opening bank account and possibly getting
credit cards in the trade name, but the person/s whose name its registered to
are wholly responsible for payments and reporting the income.
n --Partnership
agreement. Can be informal but should be in writing; can spell out all the
issues like who gets to use name, who can perform songs, what happens to
equipment or income from CD or download sales after one person leaves the band.
n --LLC
or other small form of incorporation. Creates a legal entity for the band which
is separate from the band members. The band is then its own legal ‘person.’ Can
set up rules for what happens to a member’s share of the LLC if they leave the
band. Can put all the band equipment in the LLC or corporate name, protecting
it from bankruptcy or divorce of the individual band members. But not
necessarily appropriate for young bands or pick-up groups likely to change
membership frequently
2. COPYRIGHTS
n --Your
creative works are copyrighted to you the minute you ‘fix them in a tangible
medium’ – that is, get them out of your head and onto paper or a digital track
or tape.
n ---However,
in order to defend your copyright legally by suing copyright infringers, you
need to register the copyright with the copyright office. This is cheap and
easy to do and can be done online. Register a whole collection/album at once to
be even cheaper.
n --www.copyright.gov Get to know it, make it your friend. Read it
often, check all the FAQs and fact sheets regarding music.
n --You
can perform other people’s music – i.e., covers – at any live venue, but if the
venue is not paying its ASCAP/BMI dues, then in theory you are responsible for
paying the royalties. It’s exceedingly rare for anyone to go after musicians
who played covers live, however. But they do go after venues that are having
music performance and not paying into ASCAP or BMI.
n --A
tricky issue arises because when you play live, people record you and then post
those recordings. Some artists/record companies do come after people who post
copyrighted recordings.
n --Get
a license before recording any covers, audio or video. If someone is going to
videotape your live performance for local TV or a website, review your setlist
and clue them in to shut off cameras for copyrighted material.
n --Play
your own originals as well as traditional music, and you’ll be fine. Sampling
without permission is a big copyright problem; create your own tracks of
classical, traditional or your original music to run samples from, or obtain
samples with permission from Creative Commons sites.
