SOL MESSIAH PRODUCED 3 JOINTS ON THE NEW CHARLES HAMILTON ALBUM…. STAY TUNED!

If a producer gives an independent or local artist verbal permission to use a beat on a mixtape (the mixtape also contains other industry instrumentals), and the artist adds lyrics to the beat, does the producer still have the legal right to sell the beat to an established act for album placement? Or could the local artist cause an issue? Let’s say in this case the producer has all his beats copyrighted.

Bernie’s Response:

Yes, as long as the producer owns the instrumental track, the producer still has the legal right to sell the track and may sell it to any artist for album placement.

Under copyright law, the content owner of a musical work can only transfer, sell, or assign his or her interest in writing. If there is no written conveyance of the intellectual property, the content owner or co-writer may continue to license the work to others and none of the co-writer(s) can claim copyright infringement against the other.

In the given scenario, the communication between the parties was verbal and thus, only a license to use the work was granted. Since the granting of permission was not in writing, the license was non-exclusive, giving the producer the right to license the track to anyone without opposition from the local artist. You may recall from one of my previous articles that nonexclusive agreements can be either verbal or in writing, but exclusive agreements have to be in writing in order to be effective. Such exclusive agreements would ban any third party from using the work during the term of the agreement. That is not the case in this scenario, however.

In the event the local artist tried to claim full ownership of the track due to the agreement with the producer being verbal, the producer would still be protected because the instrumental track was copyrighted. Such registrations are used as prima facie evidence of ownership to guard against copyright infringement. In any event, if the mixtape embodying the track is being commercially exploited by the artist, the artist has an obligation to account to the producer for any such exploitation.

In closing, always get your agreements down on paper. Don’t rely on verbal communication to determine your rights; make sure you get it in writing.

Disclaimer: The content of this article is the express opinion of Bernie Lawrence-Watkins and shall not to be construed as legal advice or in any way create an attorney-client relationship.
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