17
April
0
Comments
Recording a Cover Version
“Compulsory Mechanical Licenses”: The Facts and the Fictions Q: “Please review this document. Do you know what a fax is?” A: “Yeah, I do, man. It’s when you tell the truth, man, tell it like it is. That is what the facts is.” —Excerpt from a trial transcript, from Uncle John’s Great Big Reader When it comes to compulsory licenses, here’s “what the facts is.” Before you put out a record containing your cover versions of songs written by somebody else, you’re required by the federal copyright statute to first obtain a “mechanical license,” which typically comes in the form of a two or three page...
Continue reading