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