Lil Wayne is making headlines again for allegedly stealing beats. Because I see this kind of mixup happen far too often, I’d thought I use this opportune moment to address the importance of contracts and copyrights. But before I go there, let me lay out the conflict among the parties involved.

A lawsuit was filed in L.A. by rapper Rich Rick. Rick claims that he bought a beat some years ago that’s used in Waynes song “How to Love” from a group of producers who call themselves the Drumma Boyz. Rick then claims that the producers unlawfully sold the beat to Wayne after he rightfully owned the master. Wayne most likely had no way of knowing that he was being sold a beat was already exclusively purchased by another rapper.

These kinds of conflicts can result in physical altercations because business wasn’t handled properly in the beginning. When the victim of the theft has no legal proof of ownership, lawful resolution is not an option, and things can get heated. This can all be avoided of course with just a few simple precautions. It won’t prevent the theft from occurring, but it will make sure that you’re protected in case it does. Most times these conflicts are just an issue of principle because the person stealing the beat rarely makes enough impact with the stolen music to even warrant a lawsuit. But why take chances?

Entertainment lawyers can be costly, but you’d only have to pay them once to draw up a producer/artist contract that you can reuse throughout your career. If you buy the sole (exclusive) rights to a beat from a producer, there should be some legal contract between you two with all details covered in it. You should also then make sure that the music is properly copyrighted as well. This will give you the evidence you need in case you have prove ownership if the beat is resold.

I personally, as a producer, have not used contracts in every business agreement I’ve made, but this should never become a habit. It would be great if we could all do business on the faith of a persons’s word and a handshake, but unfortunately the world doesn’t operate that way. Protect yourself.

Ghostwriting in hip hop goes back as far as the first hit hip hop single, “Rappers Delight”, by the Sugar Hill Gang. Lemme give you a short history lesson. Grandmaster Caz was an emcee managed by Big Bank Hank, a member of The Sugar Hill Gang.  Caz was a member of the Cold Crush Crew. This is the crew Jay-Z refers to in Izzo; “I’m overchargin niggaz for what they did to the Cold Crush”.  Caz wrote the lyrics to Big Bank Hank’s verse in “Rappers Delight”, one of the most memorable in hip hop history.

Anyway, Caz never received credit or money for his contribution and the rest is hip hop history. Caz may have become the first hip hop ghostwriter.

In almost all cases though, the ghostwriter has a full understanding of whats involved and is in agreement with the terms of the relationship between him and the performing emcee. This usually means that writer is paid to shut his trap about ever being involved with composing or writing the song.

Nas has reportedly written tons of shit for other performing rappers. Jay-Z has publicly said that he’s been paid well not to say who he writes for.

Ghostwriters are never credited nor do they receive any writer’s royalties for their work. They are considered, work for hire. There are a some cases when an emcee will write for another and receive full credit and royalties. An example would be Rhymefest’s contribution to Kanye’s, “Jesus Walks”.  But this is not really ghostwriting because his contribution is fully disclosed. Some people mistake this for ghostwriting because most people assume that all performing emcees write their own shit and their asses don’t read the credits.

There really isn’t a standard for how much ghostwriters should be paid for each contribution. These things are always negotiated.  If you’re skilled with the pen and can keep a good fuckin secret, you can possibly make you some extra cheddar in the industry.

As always, if things get to legally confusing, seek the council of an entertainment attorney.

In this video, Maggie Lange, an attorney and Professor of Music Business/Management at Berklee College of Music, explains the work for hire provision of US copyright law, and how it affects and does not affect the ownership of sound recordings made under a recording contract.

This is part 2 of a 2 part post written by, entertainment attorney, Hillel Frankel on the importance of copyrighting your songs. You can view part 1 here.

Some quick copyright registration tips:

a) You can file all of the songs from an album (or group of recordings) on one copyright form and pay only one fee as long as: 1) the songs are all by the same writers (note: does not matter if the song splits are different as long as the same people wrote each of the songs) and 2) You list the Title as the album name and the song titles under “Alternative Title(s)” (note: Print out the form and type the song titles in by hand if they do not fit on the space provided on the PDF form, or use the CON continuation sheet).

b) If the songwriters are different for different songs, you can still group them together based on which songs do have the same writers. If each song has a different set of writers you need to file a new form for each song. Sorry can’t really save you the funds there.

c) Consider if you are the owner of the actual sound recording copyright; 1.Did your band pay for the recording? 2. You did not sign a contract with anyone giving them the rights? Then you own it! You can then register the copyright in the recording and the songwriting at the same time. Click the box for Sound Recording on the top of the CO Copyright form and then on page two select the boxes for Music, Lyrics and Sound Recording/Performances. Then follow the instructions to finish the form.

d) The copyright registration form does not require you to note who wrote what % of each song, as this form only protects the rights of the writers, it does not determine how the writers split the songs between each other or their publishers. Make sure to decide on and work out the writer’s splits for the songs as you prepare the copyright forms, and keep the list of splits in a safe place. I guarantee you will be referring to them often. You will also need them when you file the songs with a performing rights organization such as ASCAP or BMI.

Hillel Frankel email: hf@ent-law.net
website:www.ent-law.net

This is a post from my entertainment attorney, Hillel. He’s been protecting the rights of artists for years, given me a wealth of knowledge and is one of the main reasons I’ve been able to generate income doing something I love. His services aren’t cheap but if you don’t have your ass covered in this biz, you’ll pay for it one way or another.
www.copyright.gov/eco/
Copyright Your Songs
by Hillel Frankel

Songwriters need to protect their work. You would not pitch your billion-dollar reality show to MTV without protecting it would you? Well maybe you would, but remember, when you record and send out samples of your songs they can be spread all over the world in the amount of time it takes to upload an MP3. That dude in Russia who wants that American pop sound can re-record your song and get his US partner (that he pays in petrodollars) to pay the $35 filing fee and register the song first with the US Copyright Office, and you are shit out of luck and out of a hit song. Sure you could try and sue some day when the song is a hit for Sergey Putin. Just try and get a lawyer to represent you in a copyright claim using the CD of the song you mailed to yourself via U.S. post as evidence. If you came to me I would charge you a $10,000 retainer just to get started. That’s a bit more than the $35 filing fee, isn’t it? I would never take a case without copyright registration on spec or contingency fee as we call it, though artists and writers always try and get me to do so. Do you know why I won’t take it? Because without the official filed copyright form, registered with the copyright office you cannot get into federal court. You need to pay to play here, brother.

The online form is so easily available by googling “copyright forms” and downloading the new form “CO”, there is really no excuse not to go for it. Only in federal court can you be awarded statutory damages for copyright infringement of $150,000 + per infringement or request that all of the infringers profits be held in escrow. This is the leverage necessary to get a settlement from the person stealing or sampling your song without spending tens of thousands of dollars to get to trial. Remember, the person who files the copyright first is presumed to be the owner and creator of the song. Disproving Sergey’s first filing will require you to hire experts, take depositions and cost you more than you may ever earn in your entire music career. All because your cheap lazy ass did not want to file a (somewhat) simple form and pay a $35 fee to the Copyright Office..

To summarize; packages with the CD mailed to yourself, or the MP3 e-mailed to your gmail account? WORTHLESS! Don’t bother. If someone else filed first, You’ll never have the funds to actually prove that you wrote it first in court. And the Federal filing will trump your self-mailed song package and render it useless, regardless of the postmark date.
There are other varieties of copyright applications including Creative Commons forms, which offer the writer various options of ownership and control of the composition or recording. But if you simply want to own it all and pass the rights and the earnings on to your kids one day, use U.S. Copyright Forms. Consider these songs and recordings your music 401K. If it’s a hit it will never loose value and even if it isn’t there may be value out there from the catalogue as time moves on. The U.S. copyright protects the registered song for life of the author plus 70 years after the author’s death, so your kids will be able to enjoy income from your songs long after you die. This is what musicians can pass along. Intellectual Property. If not the vintage Maserati, then maybe that song Pretty Woman, or Blue Suede Shoes or Summertime Blues or any other classic rock song that great deceased rock stars wrote and is still paying income to the families of the writers.

article update on March 25th 2009:
You can file a CO application online at
www.copyright.gov/eco/ and it will save you $10 over the paper
application ($35 on line and $45 on paper). The way it works is that you fill out all of the information on the song(s) on the on line form and
then they give you a bar code that you can print to include in and on the package that you will use to send in your music. Click here for Part 2

Hillel Frankel email: hf@ent-law.net
website:www.ent-law.net

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