AudioEngineerLaw
New member
Hey Future Producers,
I’m currently finishing my second year of law school in NC focusing on music industry contract and copyright law. I’m doing a project on the audio engineer’s role as a creative contributor in the advent of modern recording mediums. I’m coming to you to see if I could get some help in one element of my demonstration.
Here is a little background on the project:
I’m working on a project to educate about the role of audio engineers as creative contributors in the advent of modern recording mediums and advocate for the recognition of those contributions. Copyright and the Music Marketplace, a 245-page document published in 2015 by the U.S. Copyright Office, which purports to be the result of “an exhaustive analysis of industry practices,” mentions audio engineers only one time, and only in relation to the description of NARAS. I consider this an important issue and believe that audio engineers should not be treated as a non-entity by their regulating bodies.
NARAS stated in their letter to the Copyright Office, in preparation of Copyright and the Music Marketplace, that studio professionals were not adequately represented in policy discussions with the Copyright Office and Congress during the formation of the Digital Performance Right in Sound Recordings Act of 1995 (“DPRA”). Studio professionals are likely to continue being underrepresented in policy discussions if the Copyright Office can simply ignore their existence as contributors. The Copyright Office itself has recognized a fundamental need for the restructuring of copyright, and public/professional outcry for reform is reaching an impressive level. Recognition is needed so that when the issue does come to a head, and reform is actualized, engineers can have a seat at the table.
One factor in showing a recognizable contribution is that the commercial viability of a work is derived from the contributions of both the artist and the engineer. (Of course, there are engineers who work more in a documentarian way, or where a producer/artists makes all of the specific creative decisions. However, that is covered in a different area of my project and outside the scope of this request).
The request:
I’m hoping that an engineer will be willing to provide me with the virgin/raw tracks from one of their projects, along with the corresponding finished product (mixed or mix/mastered). This will be used for educational purposes during a presentation at a law school for several aspiring entertainment attorneys about the role of an audio engineer and the engineer’s potential protectible contributions. A production company has donated the use of a PA, mixing console, and an engineer for the presentation. We will make every effort to present your work in the best possible light.
Any help would be greatly appreciated. I’m happy to destroy an instance of the tracks by whatever protocol you deem fit at the completion of the presentation.
Best regards,
Philip McCabe
NCCU School of Law
Class of 2018
I’m currently finishing my second year of law school in NC focusing on music industry contract and copyright law. I’m doing a project on the audio engineer’s role as a creative contributor in the advent of modern recording mediums. I’m coming to you to see if I could get some help in one element of my demonstration.
Here is a little background on the project:
I’m working on a project to educate about the role of audio engineers as creative contributors in the advent of modern recording mediums and advocate for the recognition of those contributions. Copyright and the Music Marketplace, a 245-page document published in 2015 by the U.S. Copyright Office, which purports to be the result of “an exhaustive analysis of industry practices,” mentions audio engineers only one time, and only in relation to the description of NARAS. I consider this an important issue and believe that audio engineers should not be treated as a non-entity by their regulating bodies.
NARAS stated in their letter to the Copyright Office, in preparation of Copyright and the Music Marketplace, that studio professionals were not adequately represented in policy discussions with the Copyright Office and Congress during the formation of the Digital Performance Right in Sound Recordings Act of 1995 (“DPRA”). Studio professionals are likely to continue being underrepresented in policy discussions if the Copyright Office can simply ignore their existence as contributors. The Copyright Office itself has recognized a fundamental need for the restructuring of copyright, and public/professional outcry for reform is reaching an impressive level. Recognition is needed so that when the issue does come to a head, and reform is actualized, engineers can have a seat at the table.
One factor in showing a recognizable contribution is that the commercial viability of a work is derived from the contributions of both the artist and the engineer. (Of course, there are engineers who work more in a documentarian way, or where a producer/artists makes all of the specific creative decisions. However, that is covered in a different area of my project and outside the scope of this request).
The request:
I’m hoping that an engineer will be willing to provide me with the virgin/raw tracks from one of their projects, along with the corresponding finished product (mixed or mix/mastered). This will be used for educational purposes during a presentation at a law school for several aspiring entertainment attorneys about the role of an audio engineer and the engineer’s potential protectible contributions. A production company has donated the use of a PA, mixing console, and an engineer for the presentation. We will make every effort to present your work in the best possible light.
Any help would be greatly appreciated. I’m happy to destroy an instance of the tracks by whatever protocol you deem fit at the completion of the presentation.
Best regards,
Philip McCabe
NCCU School of Law
Class of 2018