Jamaican Copyright Law



Newsgroups: rec.music.reggae
From: highnote@eskimo.com (Allen Kaatz)
Subject: Re: Jamaica Copyright Law.

ntaylor@uoguelph.ca (Nick Taylor) writes:

>Can someone update the Copyright Law situation in Jamaica? I am getting
>tired of some of the blatant cribbing going on without consideration fro
>the artsts/writers who came before. I know that some artists have, or
>are considering, suits against the producers who have ripped them off in
>the past. Are they employing new Jamaican legislation, or doing it
>outside JA?

As far I know, Jamaica now has a copyright protection law on the books, after many years of lobbying by Bob Andy & other concerned parties - but I think that some of the older artists may still be ignorant of how to get the songs properly registered, etc. I haven't heard about any artists' efforts, but did hear about a class-action suit that some of the producers were planning on bringing against Trojan records... I don't know what came of that, it's kind of old news at this point. This suit would be filed in England against Trojan, I don't think Jamaican law would have
any bearing on it. It's mostly the producers who have the rights to the music anyway, they took them from the artists long ago... so unfortunately the artists really don't have much legal ground at this point. (I'm speaking primarily of people who recorded in the 60s and 70s). Remember the scene in "The Harder They Come" where Jimmy cliff signs the paper and then records his hit song for a one-time payment of $20?

I've been to Coxone's place on Brentford Road in Kingston & watched people like Larry Marshall wait in line for a small handout from Dodd... Most of them don't even bother to ask for money any more, unless they hear about one of their tunes becoming popular in America or England,
then they might come looking for some smalls...

Bob Andy says that he never got a cent from Dodd from the sales of the "Bob Andy's Songbook" LP, which was one of Coxsone's biggest sellers supposedly, and I have heard that the Waiers have never gotten anything from him either, although their older LPs started selling well again after Bob became a superstar. Coxsone is just one example, and I actually think he treats people somewhat better than some of the other producers did.

If the story of Jamaican music is ever written truthfully, it will be a sad one.

Allen Kaatz (highnote@eskimo.com)

*** "Enjoy yourself - it's later than you think!" (Prince Buster, 1963) ***

From: Simrete <76342.1663@CompuServe.COM>
Newsgroups: rec.music.reggae
Subject: Re: Jamaica Copyright Law.
Date: 19 May 1995 14:51:09 GMT

Nicky Dread wrote:
>Can someone update the Copyright Law situation in Jamaica?

Nicky:
A few years ago musicians and producers in Jamaica formed what is known as the Jamaica Federation of Musicians, and with that federation (similar to a union) came the knowledge on how to deal with the copyright infringement situations. It has been a long road, but slowly and surely Jamaica is catching up to the rest of the industry in the knowledge of copyright law, royalty and mechanical rights. I've seen quite a bit of progress, as producers in Jamaica are giving acknowledgement to writers,and artists on their label copy. Also, the writers and artists are
beginning to receive certain amenities because of this. I'm sure that this is only the beginnings, and there are many years of infringements to cover, but there are people with the knowledge
in Jamaica and also here in the states who are now attempting to help set things straight. Legislation in Jamaica now exists to protect the rights of artists and musicians, as well as
publishers and producers. Since the industry here is and has been set up for a very long time, Jamaican artists are able to begin to see benefits from belonging to prs societies, etc.
Many artists, etc. though still need help in these areas, and there are agencies and people here in the states that are now going about the business of doing just that. Comments?

Sim.

From: highnote@eskimo.com (Allen Kaatz)
Subject: Re: Jamaica Copyright Law.

rn3517@u.cc.utah.edu (Robert Nelson) writes:

>Nick Taylor (ntaylor@uoguelph.ca) wrote:
>: small artists - especially in these times of reissues. The reason I'm
>: following this is because, through my radio program, I want to inform my
>: listeners of the pitfalls of buying certain releases/labels. Nuff said.

>: Guidance, Nicky

>I understand what you're saying Nicky. You know that with Esoldun or
>Trojan neither the artist nor the producer/original label is being
>compensated. But is it a matter of who's getting paid? Let's use
>Heartbeat's example with Studio One. I'm sure they're making sure that
>Coxsone is compensated for releasing Studio One music. But is Heartbeat
>making sure that, let's say the Viceroys using the latest HB/St. 1
>release, are getting paid? Or do they leave that up to Coxsone to
>distribute the royalties down the line?

Unfortunately, if the producer has registered the songs, and is in legal ownership of the masters, they are who gets the money - a label like Heartbeat if they are to play by the rules, must pay the royalties to the party that legally owns the rights to the material - they can't really get around it, and they can't really be responsible for what the producer does with the money after that. However, for labels such as Heartbeat to get on any kind of moral "high horse" just because they have legally paid the producer is a little precious, if the real creator of the music is still going unrewarded.

One thing that has happened that is positive is when when groups like (the much maligned) UB40 do over a song, they make sure that the original artist is credited, rather than the producer... for example when UB40 did over Jackie Bernard's (The Kingstonians) song "Sufferrer" they made sure to credit Jackie with the composition - even though on the
original it was credited to Derrick Harriott, the producer... at least this way it's left up to a court to decide who gets the money if there is any contention. It this case, I don't think Harriott said anything, and I know that Jackie got paid). In some cases, even this doesn't help
In another similar instance, when The Rolling Stones cut Eric Donaldson's "Cherry Oh Baby", they credited Eric on the record, but the money was unfortunately administered by Dynamic (Neville Lee) who released the original, they saw to it that Eric only got a fraction of what was
probably due him.

>The same man who sent Joe Higgs to the hospital when he asked for $$. The
>reason why the Wailers set up their own label. If there's a way to make
>sure that the artist gets paid, I'm all for that. They're the priority.
>At least the producers scooped his share of the profits on the original
>go around.

Yes I have heard that same story - Coxsone put out Joe's eye... and Higgs hasn't resided in Jamaica since that time, I believe.

The producers' profits in the early days wasn't great, but even so it was unfair of them not to share what they did make ... a case of classic exploitation. Now that the interest in this music has become world-wide however, it is time that things were dealt with fairly - but let's face
it, that's not going to happen soon. The same type of expoitation occured in this country throughout the 50s and 60s, especially with some of the less educated R & R and R & B artists, and there will always be a large component of this type of behavior in the music industry - it seems to be "built in". It is sad when you realize all of the people in the biz that don't actually create the music often make more money than those who did... critics, writers, producers, soundmen, managers, record companies, etc. usually have more stable incomes than the artists and musicians do.

Allen Kaatz (highnote@eskimo.com)

*** "Enjoy yourself - it's later than you think!" (Prince Buster, 1963) ***

From: highnote@eskimo.com (Allen Kaatz)
Subject: Re: Jamaica Copyright Law.
Date: Mon, 22 May 1995 23:54:56 GMT

rn3517@u.cc.utah.edu (Robert Nelson) writes:

>Simrete (76342.1663@CompuServe.COM) wrote:
>: Nicky Dread wrote:
>: >Can someone update the Copyright Law situation in Jamaica?

>: Nicky:
>: A few years ago musicians and producers in Jamaica formed what is
>: known as the Jamaica Federation of Musicians, and with that
>: federation (similar to a union) came the knowledge on how to deal
>: with the copyright infringement situations. It has been a long
>: road, but slowly and surely Jamaica is catching up to the rest of
>: the industry in the knowledge of copyright law, royalty and
>: mechanical rights.

>: --
>: Sim

>I read somewhere once where one of the producers said that you can't
>copyright a riddim. That can't possibly be true is it? Think of all of
>the tunes out there on the Beatle's "Norwegian Wood" riddim and that's
>not an infringement of copyright? Even if the lyrics are completely
>different?

That's right, you can only copyright a SONG, or musical composition, not a bassline, guitar part, drumbeat, or whatever. A song would generally be considered a combination of lyrics and MELODY... a bass line is not a melody, although in Jamaican DJ music there's a lot more melody in the bass than there is in vocal, in most cases.

The riddim question could be tested in court I suppose, with the argument that the bassline is an integral part of the of the composition (especially in reggae music). If that ever came to pass, guys like Leroy Sibbles & Jackie Jackson (the bass players for Studio One & Treasure Isle, respectively) would be some *extremely* wealthy guys... it certainly seems fair that they should get something for creating the basslines that have kept people dancing for almost 30 years, but it will never happen. Musicians are always the unsung heroes... But where do you draw the line - some of the bass parts ("riddims") were themselves borrowed from old calypso or folk melodies...

Allen Kaatz (highnote@eskimo.com)

*** "Enjoy yourself - it's later than you think!" (Prince Buster, 1963) ***

From: cedmon01@fiu.edu (Christopher A. Edmonds)
Newsgroups: rec.music.reggae
Subject: Re: Jamaica Copyright Law.
Date: 23 May 1995 15:15:12 GMT

In article <D907rK.5As@eskimo.com> highnote@eskimo.com (Allen Kaatz) writes:
>rn3517@u.cc.utah.edu (Robert Nelson) writes:
>>Simrete (76342.1663@CompuServe.COM) wrote:
>>I read somewhere once where one of the producers said that you can't
>>copyright a riddim. That can't possibly be true is it? Think of all of
>>the tunes out there on the Beatle's "Norwegian Wood" riddim and that's
>>not an infringement of copyright? Even if the lyrics are completely
>>different?
>That's right, you can only copyright a SONG, or musical composition, not
>a bassline, guitar part, drumbeat, or whatever. A song would generally
>be considered a combination of lyrics and MELODY... a bass line is not
>a melody, although in Jamaican DJ music there's a lot more melody in
>the bass than there is in vocal, in most cases.
>The riddim question could be tested in court I suppose, with the arguement
>that the bassline is an integral part of the of the composition
>(especially in reggae music). If that ever came to pass, guys like Leroy
>Sibbles & Jackie Jackson (the bass players for Studio One & Treasure
>Isle, respectively) would be some *extremely* wealthy guys... it
>certainly seems fair that they should get something for creating the
>basslines that have kept people dancing for almost 30 years, but it will
>never happen. Musicians are always the unsung heroes... But where do
>you draw the line - some of the bass parts ("riddims") were themselves
>borrowed from old calypso or folk melodies...


Al,

You would appreciate Leroy Sibbles latest effort, entitled "Original Full Up" with Beenie Man, whose lyrics are something like this:

"I didn't know what I was doing when I made this one,
I didn't know, one riddim could last so long,
Mighty Diamonds call it kutchie, now every singer and DJ wan touch it,
If you want to see another sound pack up, jus play the kutchie riddim
as you string up,

I never made much money from it but I still feel good,
cause every time a sound string up, Leroy Sibbles in your neighbourhood."

And so on, anyway, you get the idea.

Didn't some Jamaican reggae singer sue the Rolling Stones recently over an issue similar to this?

|--\/--| /-------/ || Christopher A. Edmonds - Dept of Electrical Eng.
| |/__ __/ M A X I || Florida International University, Miami, Florida
| |\/| | | | T A X I || edmondsc@solix.fiu.edu cedmon01@servax.fiu.edu
|_| |_| |__| || cedmon01@solix.fiu.edu "SOCA//REGGAE//HOUSE!!"

From: rn3517@u.cc.utah.edu (Robert Nelson)
Newsgroups: rec.music.reggae
Subject: Re: Jamaica Copyright Law.
Date: 23 May 1995 16:30:11 GMT

Lee O'Neill (papalee@ix.netcom.com) wrote:

: I'd like to introduce another (heretical?) idea to this thread, too.
: The image of the evil, manipulative producer is standard in reggae and
: that stereotype has been forwarded quite strongly in this forum. Could
: someone suggest a better idea for the production and retail distribution
: of reggae records in Jamaica? It simply isn't enough for a singer to
: walk into a studio and make a record. Who pays the musicians? Who
: builds the studio and maintains the equipment? Who pays the pressing
: plant? Who fronts the money to make enough records to stock all the
: stores across the island? I'm not suggesting that the producers were a
: virtuous lot, but the record business requires a lot of front money
: before the eventual payback, and I'm wondering what would have been a
: better (and workable) system than the one created by Dodd, Reid, et al.

: One Love,
: Lee O'Neill

But Lee, for the artist, there is no eventual payback. Their money is a one time payout, upfront before the session starts.

The classic example of this is from the movie the Harder They Come. Ivan gets his 20 pounds for the record and that's it. When he badgers the producer too much a boycott of his music is enacted. So therefore it gets no airplay on the radio and the master sits on the shelf forever. UNTIL Ivan becomes a notorious figure, then the producer cranks up his record press and sells millions of copies. Yet the payout for the artist is a one time deal. As long as the producer hangs on to the master he has the ability to sell as many copies as people will buy in perpetuity. And with the explosion of reissues over the last several years and the interest in back catalog items fostered by the invention of CDs producers are in a great position. It's a great return on the producers original investment.

Lee brings up the question of a better system of production and distribution. I'm not too aware of how this works in Jamaica, but in the American music business this has been a problem forever. The music business is a cartel that controls all of the major points of production and distribution and now with stores like Virgin, they even are controlling it at the point of sales. That is a lot of control over an industry. Bordering on anti trust if you ask me.

So therefore an artist has to go to the same place in order to get his record recorded, pressed and distributed. And radio generally will not play independents, outside of the "marginalized" college and non-commercial stations. All of the cards are held by the same entity. And the artist who may not even be represented by a lawyer signs away all of his rights just to get his music out. Not realizing that all expenses are charged against royalties. So this includes the recording costs, distribution, promos, touring,videos, cocaine bills, payola etc. In many cases artists who sold a million copies of a record ended up *owing* the company money for expenses. Not to mention the fact that companies have always under reported sales of records, sold promo copies thru the back door etc, which further shrinks the profit margin. During the heyday of Motown, Berry Gordy never had a gold or platinum record because he refused to do the audits that would prove sales in excess of a million copies.

Plus as we have seen with Coxsone and his "Scorcher" imprint on countless number of songwriting credits on Studio One. A real pot of money exists to made on songwriting alone. Profits from sheet music, "muzak versions" etc. In many cases in the 40s and 50s, artists had to give co-writing credits to their producers in order to get signed. And this extended into the payola scandals too on radio where such disc jockeys as Alan Freed demanded his cut or there would be no airplay.

So to answer Lee's question: there is no better way. "If you can't beat 'em join 'em". Artists like the Wailers, Jimmy Riley and on and on knew that the only way to get around the system was to start up their own label, hire their own musicians/arrangers, buy their own pressing plant and be responsible for their own distribution/selling. Tuff Gong is a perfect example of this.

So when a producer like Joe Gibbs gets caught and squashed for his thieving ways, I don't cry a tear; even as much as I might like his productions. What goes around comes around. And as the stakes of this music get higher and higher, and the lawyers and accountants crack open the books, eventually Coxsone's probably going to get his come uppance as well.

Robert Nelson Smile Jamaica, Sat. 4-7 PM
KRCL 91 FM / KZMU 89.7 FM Salt Lake City / Moab, Utah
rnelson@alexandria.lib.utah.edu Reggae Ambassadors Worldwide #14

From: highnote@eskimo.com (Allen Kaatz)
Subject: Re: Jamaica Copyright Law.
Date: Thu, 25 May 1995 07:29:01 GMT

papalee@ix.netcom.com (Lee O'Neill ) wrote:


> I'd like to introduce another (heretical?) idea to this thread, too.
>The image of the evil, manipulative producer is standard in reggae and
>that stereotype has been forwarded quite strongly in this forum. Could
>someone suggest a better idea for the production and retail distribution
>of reggae records in Jamaica? It simply isn't enough for a singer to
>walk into a studio and make a record. Who pays the musicians? Who
>builds the studio and maintains the equipment? Who pays the pressing
>plant? Who fronts the money to make enough records to stock all the
>stores across the island? I'm not suggesting that the producers were a
>virtuous lot, but the record business requires a lot of front money
>before the eventual payback, and I'm wondering what would have been a
>better (and workable) system than the one created by Dodd, Reid, et al.

These guys were all sound men before they were producers - they made their money charging admission & selling beer & food at dances... this was the seed money for their record companies... Of course they were necessary to the growth of the music scene. To use Coxsone Dodd as an example -- without Dodd's contributions, the evolution of reggae would be hard to imagine... not only did he have the studio, but he provided an atmosphere, as well. This still does not excuse him from dishonesty, or from cheating artists by putting his name "scorcher" as writer's credit, instead of crediting the real writers of the song... also it was people like Jackie
Mittoo, Leroy Sibbles, & Tommy McCook who really arranged all the music, and engineer Sid Bucknor was largley response for the sound. Coxsone was mainly the business man, although his taste in music cannot be eliminated from the picture.

It takes teamwork to make really good records, every element is important, but every one involved should get some reward, too. "Each man get paid according to his worth" as the lyric goes. Sure, the crooked Jamaican producer is a cliche' - but there is a reason for that stereotype... Did you know that at one time the Beatles were interested in signing The Heptones to their Apple record label... Coxsone refused to let them out of their contract. Leroy Sibbles (a Beatles fan) was reportedly bitterly disappointed at this missed opportunity. When Coxsone had his big anniversary concert in JA a few years back, Leroy refused to participate.
(The Heptones sold a LOT of records for Dodd) There are many stories of ill treatment, Joe Higgs getting his eye put out for asking for money, etc... do you call this type of thing a "system"? It's more like the Mafia! In my view it's not minimizing the contribution of the producer to point out the injustices they perpetrated on talented but ignorant ghetto youths. Berry Gordy did the same thing in this country, of course -- there is no international boundary on exploitation...

Al

From: Simrete <76342.1663@CompuServe.COM>
Newsgroups: rec.music.reggae
Subject: Re: Jamaica Copyright Law.
Date: 26 May 1995 16:02:26 GMT

May 23 Papa Lee wrote:> should he (or his record company) pay royalties?<..
Let's diferentiate between royalties and mechanicals for discussions sake. Royalties on airplay
are paid by the prs societies. Royalties on sales are called mechanical rights, and
are paid by the label releasing the product. Having cleared that up, let's discuss the question you
posed:If Parker gave credit to the Gershwins, then when payment due comes up, the publishing
company that handles Gershwins music is paid. So are the authors of the musical composition,
even if it is just a bassline or chord. That is if everything is registered properly in the beginning.
Prs societies and the publishing companies are aware of who gets what percent. On the other
hand,if mechanicals are not paid by the company releaseing the product, again the publishers
can get Harry Fox to audit that particular companies books and demand payment, if they then
don't receive it, Fox can bring legal proceedings into the picture. Now if Parker didn't give credit
where it was due, prs societies, and the copyright office can handle the situation, if Gershwin's
music is indeed copyrighted. All sorts of injunctions can be placed against Parker receiving a
penny until what belongs to who is settled.

Sim

Posted: Thu - February 13, 2003 at 03:46 PM      


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