Different take on "Poor Man's Copyright"?

[Douglas Spotted Eagle]

Just as a clarification....labels rarely determine what tracks an album contains. Artists and their producers do. For some reason, buyers of music are deluded into thinking every work of art is equal in passionate or creative erudation.
It doesn't work that way.
Of the more than 300 albums I've recorded, produced, played on...less than 20 have had hits, 9 have been Grammy nominees, and 2 have won. And oddly enough in some cases, the songs I thought the public would like weren't, and the ones I hated were hits.
But for the most part, artists control most what goes on the record. The producer has a lot of say in the matter too. If you are a Garth Brooks, Madonna, Celine, Cher...the artist has absolute control in most cases. At my level, the label might ask for different mixes of songs, but rarely do they ask for a song to be dropped unless it's offensive.
Point is, don't blame the label if you don't like the songs on the album.
NO ONE can write a hit every time. Especially in today's ridiculously fickle marketplace. Oh how I long for the days when a record like Dark Side of the Moon can be on the charts for decades instead of the days when a Britney Spears tune is the biggest thing in the world for a couple weeks.
Like the link you submitted, that guy isn't creative at all. He's a parrot of Michael Hedges. But...he's making cash. Where's the incentive to be creative and original anymore? It's fleeting, it's faithless, and it's subject to the whims of today's buying world that doesn't buy anymore, they steal instead.
Yup...I've got a bad attitude. Ever since I discovered there is an online Douglas Spotted Eagle Radio station, I've become jaded. :>-)

[Paul Tauger]

Ever since I discovered there is an online Douglas Spotted Eagle Radio station, I've become jaded.

Is there really one, i.e. one that isn't affiliated with you?

[Douglas Spotted Eagle]

There really is one, and it's my music, but I have nothing to do with it. I've sent Virgin after it, but who knows what they'll do. (I record for Higher Octave/Virgin)

[Paul Tauger]

Doug, do you own the copyright, or does Virgin?

[Douglas Spotted Eagle]

Depends on the work, but since they own publishing rights, regardless of me owning copyright, it's easier for them to go after it for reasons of resource. Some works are joint copyright, most are mine exclusively. Some are BMG/Windham Hill, and some are still yet another publisher. I've been with 5 publishers in my 15 year career.
I should explain that they are using the radio station to sell CD's, but I'm not happy with the full-time, 24 hour stream of the music. Therein lies the problem.
I've written to the webstation to ask if they pay ASCAP or BMI, and received no response. I need to get w/ASCAP/BMI and find out if they are a licensee. If I was seeing any significant form of sales from the airplay, I'd probably not have an issue with it, to be truthful. it all comes down to cash, doesn't it? :-)

[Paul Tauger]

Doug, for what it's worth, you might not only have a copyright claim against, but you may have a Lanham Act claim as well. I hope you nail 'em. Good luck!

[Mike Rehmus]

<<<-- Originally posted by Douglas Spotted Eagle :
Oh how I long for the days when a record like Dark Side of the Moon can be on the charts for decades instead of the days when a Britney Spears tune is the biggest thing in the world for a couple weeks.
:>-) -->>>

Wait, you are telling me that Dark Side of the Moon isn't on the charts anymore? I gotta trash my CD?

[Rob Lohman]

Well I may have finally found a lead howto register copyright
(called auteursrecht) here in Holland. It looks like you need to
send the script to the national tax service (why are they doing
this anyway? Oh well) and it gets recorded in their "books" and
you'll get a sticker on the script which then gets send back to you.

They are talking about "assets" the whole time and talking a lot
about contracts in the examples, so it is not 100% sure it works
for scripts, but I think it might.

I'll have to phone them up some time and see what is going on.

If anyone else from The Netherlands wants to know more I found
a brochure (dutch only) through google (nowhere to be find
through the site itself, nice) that talks a bit about what it is and
which offices you can go to to get the stuff registered. The
document (in PDF) can be found here

[Ed Smith]

For all those interested from the UK. You should probably register with these guys

http://www.copyrightservice.co.uk/register/register.htm

cheers,

Ed