Can I sell an exclusive beat after I've leased it prior?

[Manwell Beats]

I've always wondered this. What would happen? I know some people put conditions in their lease contracts. For instance, "3,000 downloads & this lease is up in 5 years" etc. But what happens if an artist approaches me about buying a beat for their album? And I have other artist who've leased my beat with valid contracts (whether time frame or downloads)?

Do the leases become theirs? Cause when you sell exclusively, you can't lease that same beat anymore since you've sold the rights to it. This has confused me for the longest time.

 

[Loopcrash.com]

Yes you can. It would be a problem if you resold an exclusive beat. Usually artist dont want to buy leased beats. But if theu want to upgrade their licenses then its theirs

 

[bandcoach]

I've always wondered this. What would happen? I know some people put conditions in their lease contracts. For instance, "3,000 downloads & this lease is up in 5 years" etc. But what happens if an artist approaches me about buying a beat for their album? And I have other artist who've leased my beat with valid contracts (whether time frame or downloads)?

Do the leases become theirs? Cause when you sell exclusively, you can't lease that same beat anymore since you've sold the rights to it. This has confused me for the longest time.

the contract is the source for your answer - which means you need to get a legal opinion from a competent attorney.

also be aware that an exclusive sale does not mean that you are selling your rights to be known as the creator; nor are you ceding your rights to receive royalties for radio play, synchronisation with tv or film, mechanical rights for other venues, performance rights in all mediums, any rights that flow from publishing (any medium again). You only give these up if you consent to it. If you do then you should be selling the beat at a premium (x10 minimum) to compensate you for lost future earnings related to this track.

as in all cases related to contracts get your own attorney to advise you an what course of action is best for you - do not ever rely on the other guys attorney to tell you what is in your best interests!!!!

 

[BezserkerProductions]

Yeah, like the comment above selling Exclusive Rights doesn't always mean that you give them FULL OWNERSHIP of the beat. If you want, you can sell exclusive rights and just put something like "The beat will NO longer be leased or sold again BUT the "producer" STILL owns the beat in the contract. That way you can sell exclusive rights without giving up entire ownership of your composition.

 

[Manwell Beats]

Okay this makes much more sense. Thank you guys.

 

[TagYourBeats]

the contract is the source for your answer - which means you need to get a legal opinion from a competent attorney.

also be aware that an exclusive sale does not mean that you are selling your rights to be known as the creator; nor are you ceding your rights to receive royalties for radio play, synchronisation with tv or film, mechanical rights for other venues, performance rights in all mediums, any rights that flow from publishing (any medium again). You only give these up if you consent to it. If you do then you should be selling the beat at a premium (x10 minimum) to compensate you for lost future earnings related to this track.

as in all cases related to contracts get your own attorney to advise you an what course of action is best for you - do not ever rely on the other guys attorney to tell you what is in your best interests!!!!

I agree with this.

My understanding is that if you sell an exclusive beat as long as the person you're selling it to know thats 3 people have leased it, permitting them 15,000 sales each, then you're all good. Pretending that the beat has only been sold exclusively could be a problem.

As as dude says, legal advice is best.

JC

 

[freelancepoolparty]

There's a lot of confusion with the term "exclusive" which is why I have trouble with the term.

To me, that is giving the client the impression that they can exclusively use it. If the beat has already been licensed then technically the client can't exclusively use it.

They wouldn't be able to clear it with a publisher or licensing agency who is interested in exploiting the Copyright.

A "true" exclusive track is one that has never been licensed and the client can "clear it".

But, like others have posted it's all about your terms. If a client wants to pay a high premium to essentially "be the last guy to use the track" then that's on them.

I don't agree with that which is why I don't sell exclusive tracks that way, but hey! To each his own.