Contracts

  • Thread starter Thread starter bknot1
  • Start date Start date
showtime2100 said:
B Knot,

I need a contract for my studio...I'm selling studio time....what's good with that?
go here fam

hiphopproduction.com/contracts/studio_charges_time_contract.htm
 
here is something to use

DANCE REMIX RECORDING CONTRACT (FLAT FEE)

This AGREEMENT (hereinafter referred to as the “Agreement") is made effective this _____ day of _______________, 200__ by and between ____________________, located at ________________________________________ (hereinafter referred to as the “Remixer") and ____________________, located at ________________________________________ (hereinafter referred to as the “Company").

WITNESSETH:

In consideration of the respective covenants contained herein, the parties hereto, intending to legally bound hereby, agree as follows:

1. Work-For-Hire. Whereas the Remixer, an employee for hire of the Company, has at its request and under its direction, made the following musical contributions:

Dance remix for the Master recording: _____SONG TITLE_____ by _____ARTIST_____

2. Ownership of Masters. All Masters recorded by Remixer hereunder, from the inception of the recording thereof and all reproductions derived therefrom, together with the performances embodied thereon, shall be the property of Company for the world free from any claims whatsoever by the Remixer or any person deriving any rights or interest from the Remixer. The Masters (referring only to the sound recordings as opposed to the underlying musical works) shall be considered a “work made for hire” for Company.

A. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, Company and its designee(s) shall have the exclusive, perpetual, and unlimited right to all the results and proceeds of the uninhibited exploitation of the Masters throughout the Universe (the “Territory"), including, but not limited to

the Masters to third parties for use on a flat-fee and/or royalty basis.

(i) The right to manufacture, advertise, sell, lease, license, distribute or otherwise use or dispose of, in any or all fields of use by any method now or hereafter known, records embodying the Masters delivered hereunder, upon such terms and conditions as Company may elect, or at its discretion to refrain therefrom;

(ii) The right to use, reproduce, print, publish or disseminate in any medium, and to permit others to do the same, Remixer’s name (including any professional name now or hereafter adopted by Remixer), photos, likeness, and biographical material concerning Remixer in all connections which relate in any manner to the Masters or Company, including, without limitation, in the marketing, sale or other exploitation of records, and as news or other information, in connection with Company’s business;

(iii) The right to perform the records publicly and to permit public performances thereof by means of radio broadcast, television or any other method now or hereafter known, and to synchronize such performances with visual images.

(iv) The right to license the Masters to third parties for use on a flat-fee and/or royalty basis.

(v) To include the Masters on compilations with masters by other artists, producers, and/or remixers.

B. All the rights herein granted to Company hereunder shall be for the Universe (the “Territory").

C. Remixer acknowledges that the sale of records is speculative and agrees that the judgment of Company with regard to any matter affecting the sale, distribution and exploitation of such records shall be binding and conclusive upon Remixer. Nothing contained in this Agreement shall obligate Company to make, sell, license, or distribute recordings manufactured from masters recorded hereunder.

3. Publishing. Remixer does hereby relinquish all claims to any publishing rights in regards to the Masters, and the Remixer further acknowledges that the publishing copyright belongs to the original writers of the musical composition that formed the basis the for the Masters.

4. Payment. The enticement and consideration for this Agreement is the promise by the Company to pay the Remixer the amount of $____________. This is a one-time compensation for the Remixer’s and Remixer understands that this will comprise Remixer’s complete and sole payment.

5. Governing Law. This Agreement is entered into in the City of _____CITY_____ and State of _____STATE_____ and is guided by and governed by the laws of that State.


IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have executed this Agreement on the day and year first above written.

AGREED TO AND ACCEPTED:

BY:
“REMIXER”
<<FULL NAME>>


_____________________________
(an authorized signatory)


BY:
“COMPANY”
<<COMPANY NAME>>


_____________________________
(an authorized signatory)

or this one

DANCE REMIX RECORDING CONTRACT (ROYALTY)

This AGREEMENT (hereinafter referred to as the “Agreement") is made effective this _____ day of _______________, 200__ by and between ____________________, located at ________________________________________ (hereinafter referred to as the “Remixer") and ____________________, located at ________________________________________ (hereinafter referred to as the “Company").

WITNESSETH:

In consideration of the respective covenants contained herein, the parties hereto, intending to legally bound hereby, agree as follows:

1. Musical Contribution. Whereas the Remixer, an employee for hire of the Company, has at its request and under its direction, made the following musical contributions:

Dance remix for the master sound recording: _____SONG TITLE_____ by _____ARTIST_____ (hereinafter referred to as the “Masters").

2. Ownership of Masters. All Masters recorded by Remixer hereunder, from the inception of the recording thereof and all reproductions derived therefrom, together with the performances embodied thereon, shall be the property of Company for the world free from any claims whatsoever by the Remixer or any person deriving any rights or interest from the Remixer. The Masters (referring only to the sound recordings as opposed to the underlying musical works) shall be considered a “work made for hire” for Company.

A. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, Company and its designee(s) shall have the exclusive, perpetual, and unlimited right to all the results and proceeds of the uninhibited exploitation of the Masters throughout the Universe (the “Territory"), including, but not limited to:

(i) The right to manufacture, advertise, sell, lease, license, distribute or otherwise use or dispose of, in any or all fields of use by any method now or hereafter known, records embodying the Masters delivered hereunder, upon such terms and conditions as Company may elect, or at its discretion to refrain therefrom;

(iii) The right to perform the records publicly and to permit public performances thereof by means of radio broadcast, television or any other method now or hereafter known, and to synchronize such performances with visual images.

(iv) The right to license the Masters to third parties for use on a flat-fee and/or royalty basis.

(v) To include the Masters on compilations with masters by other artists, producers, and/or remixers.

B. All the rights herein granted to Company hereunder shall be for the Universe (the “Territory").

C. Remixer acknowledges that the sale of records is speculative and agrees that the judgment of Company with regard to any matter affecting the sale, distribution and exploitation of such records shall be binding and conclusive upon Remixer. Nothing contained in this Agreement shall obligate Company to make, sell, license, or distribute recordings manufactured from masters recorded hereunder.

3. Publishing. Remixer does hereby relinquish all claims to any publishing rights in regards to the Masters, and the Remixer further acknowledges that the publishing copyright belongs to the original writers of the musical composition that formed the basis the for the Masters.

4. Advances. Upon execution of this Agreement, Company shall pay Remixer the sum of $XX,XXX.XX US Dollars. All monies paid to Remixer, on behalf of Remixer, or at the request of Remixer, other than royalties payable pursuant to Paragraph 5 of this Agreement, shall constitute advances to Remixer and shall be fully recoupable by Company from any monies payable under this or any Agreement between Company and Remixer.

5. Royalties. Conditioned upon Remixer’s full and faithful performance of each and all of the terms hereof, Company shall pay Remixer the following royalties in respect of records sold subject to this Agreement, provided first that Company in then in a fully recouped position in accordance with the provisions of this Agreement:

A. A royalty of three (3%) percent of the wholesale list price in the country of manufacture on ninety (90%) percent of all exploitation of the Masters licensed hereunder, after full recoupment of the advance to Remixer described in paragraph 3.

B. As to records not consisting entirely of masters recorded and/or delivered hereunder, the royalty rate otherwise payable to Remixer hereunder with respect to sales of any such record shall be prorated by multiplying such royalty rate by a fraction, the numerator of which is the number of Masters recorded and/or delivered hereunder embodied on such record and the denominator of which is the total number of masters embodied thereon.

C. Company shall have the right to include or to license others to include any one or more of the Masters in promotional records on which such masters and other recordings are included, which promotional records are designed for promotional uses or sale at or slightly above the cost of manufacture. No royalties shall be payable on sales of such promotional records.

D. Remixer shall not be entitled to receive or earn any monies in respect of any exploitation of the Masters for which Company is not entitled to receive or does not earn a royalty or credit.

E. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in this Agreement, it is specifically understood and agreed that no royalties shall be payable to Remixer hereunder unless and until Company has recouped all recording costs incurred in connection with the Masters hereunder.

F. Royalties in respect of sales of records outside the United States shall be computed in the same national currency as Company is accounted to by its licensees and shall be paid to Remixer at the same rate of exchange as Company is paid. It is understood that such royalties will not be due and payable until payment thereof is received by Company in the United States of America.

6. Governing Law. This Agreement is entered into in the City of _____CITY_____ and State of _____STATE_____ and is guided by and governed by the laws of that State.


IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have executed this Agreement on the day and year first above written.

AGREED TO AND ACCEPTED:

BY:
“REMIXER”
<<FULL NAME>>


_____________________________
(an authorized signatory)


BY:
“COMPANY”
<<COMPANY NAME>>


_____________________________
(an authorized signatory)
 
mmmmm... random contracts... gotta love that.


Okay... here is a question for anybody...

Let's just talk about those "remix" contracts above for a sec...


are you DOING the remix or are you HIRING someone to do the remix? Do you know which one of those situations this contract is pointed towards?


If you sign this contract, do you know what you are getting or giving up?
 
KNOWLEDGE BORN

i love you all

*conductin voodoo to help all our careers*

i just wanted to add how hard these ***** are to find as well.

hot damn.
 
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one of the most FOOLISH and STUPID things a person can do is to use one of THESE or ANY contracts without knowing EXACTLY what every single line means.

You would NOT sign a contract that someone gave you without having a LAWYER look at it, so WHY would you use THIS contract WITHOUT having a lawyer look at it?!?

Using one of THESE contracts is NO DIFFERENT from signing ANY other contract without a LAWYER!

Please THINK about this!
 
^^^Agreed.

Form Contracts - Use them at your own risk

I have a rule. It goes like this: if it is not your agreement, don’t be foolish enough to think that you can use to adequately protect your rights. If you’re stubborn, and you insist on using one because it will save you money, just wait until you’re back in my office two months down the road, ready to file a law suit. You’ll see how much legal fees you really ended up saving in the long run.

It's bad enough to use a contract that you don't understand. It's even worse if you use a contract that says something you didn't want it to say.

Sure, form contracts might have all that legal gobbedlygook that makes it sound professional, but the reason for that is because contract interpretation is almost an art, and can differ greatly from state to state. Unless you're a lawyer, or have a lawyer draft up your contract, iit's probably better to leave that stuff out.

For those FP'ers who truly want to take the time to learn the business side of music and don't think downloading a few form contracts off the internet takes care of that, I suggest learning more about contracts. This is a decent place to start: Contracts 101: What makes a valid contract
 
bknot1 said:
use for Jingles

COMMERCIAL MUSIC CONTRACT


just looked at this one.

This particular contract is completely worthless.

In addition to it not falling in line with what is normal industry practice for commercial work, it looks like it was written in 1973... talking about delivering cassette copies and 7 1/2 ips reel to reel copies... talking about "within 100 miles of the broadcast center" which is meaningless in the "modern" times of cable TV.

The deliverables are silly. The timeframe of 30 days is unrealistic (you usually get maybe 3 days if you are lucky).

Also slanted toward the person BUYING the music.


...and that's just the beginning of the problems with this one.

Don't even think about using this one.










To everybody saying "great thread" or "best thread ever" or "good lookin out" or "this is helpful" with regard to these contracts...

If you want the "best thread ever" and real helpful information on contracts, here it is:


Do not ever use a contract you find on the internet.

You obviously have no idea what you are agreeing to when you use these contracts.

If you do use one of these or any contract you find on the internet, you deserve to get screwed.


Lets say you are looking for a contract for doingf a remix.

Just because a contract says "remixer agreement" does not mean it is what you are looking for.

Are you DOING the remix? or are you HIRING someone to do a remix?

Do you realize that both contracts would be very different?



If you want a better contract than EVERYTHING here, do this:

Write down in plain english what you want to happen.

for example, "You can use this song for 1 year beginning today on this Burger King commercial only. You will pay me $___. I can still use this song on non food related commercials and on CD's and in movies and TV shows during that 1 year. After the 1 year is over you have no rights to this song and I have all the rights to this song. You will give me a copy of the finished commercial within 1 week after the air date"


or "I will do a remix of your song '_____'. you will pay me a flat fee of $___. You can use my material only as it is in this finished version of the song. You can not use any of my music for other songs. I will be credited as '______' wherever this remix is used. You can release albums with this song and you can license the song for any use you want. If the song is licensed for anything other than a music CD, I will get 20% of the money generated from the use."


I am not saying you should use those paragraphs I just wrote (they do not apply to any real life situation). I am telling you that you will be better off just saying what you mean rather than using some contract that you do not understand.


Of course, the BEST thing you can do is get an attorney to draft a contract for you.

And there is no point bringing one of THESE contracts in this thread or anywhere else on the internet to an attorney to look over. If you are going to go to an attorney, the attorney will just write up a contract for you that says exactly what you want it to say. an attorney will not waste his time trying to fix some contract you found on the internet.



IF YOU USE A CONTRACT YOU FIND ON THE INTERNET. YOU WILL END UP VERY DISAPPOINTED.
 
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dvyce said:
just looked at this one.

This particular contract is completely worthless.

In addition to it not falling in line with what is normal industry practice for commercial work, it looks like it was written in 1973... talking about delivering cassette copies and 7 1/2 ips reel to reel copies... talking about "within 100 miles of the broadcast center" which is meaningless in the "modern" times of cable TV.

The deliverables are silly. The timeframe of 30 days is unrealistic (you usually get maybe 3 days if you are lucky).

Also slanted toward the person BUYING the music.


...and that's just the beginning of the problems with this one.

Don't even think about using this one.










To everybody saying "great thread" or "best thread ever" or "good lookin out" or "this is helpful" with regard to these contracts...

If you want the "best thread ever" and real helpful information on contracts, here it is:


Do not ever use a contract you find on the internet.

You obviously have no idea what you are agreeing to when you use these contracts.

If you do use one of these or any contract you find on the internet, you deserve to get screwed.


Lets say you are looking for a contract for doingf a remix.

Just because a contract says "remixer agreement" does not mean it is what you are looking for.

Are you DOING the remix? or are you HIRING someone to do a remix?

Do you realize that both contracts would be very different?



If you want a better contract than EVERYTHING here, do this:

Write down in plain english what you want to happen.

for example, "You can use this song for 1 year beginning today on this Burger King commercial only. You will pay me $___. I can still use this song on non food related commercials and on CD's and in movies and TV shows during that 1 year. After the 1 year is over you have no rights to this song and I have all the rights to this song. You will give me a copy of the finished commercial within 1 week after the air date"


or "I will do a remix of your song '_____'. you will pay me a flat fee of $___. You can use my material only as it is in this finished version of the song. You can not use any of my music for other songs. I will be credited as '______' wherever this remix is used. You can release albums with this song and you can license the song for any use you want. If the song is licensed for anything other than a music CD, I will get 20% of the money generated from the use."


I am not saying you should use those paragraphs I just wrote (they do not apply to any real life situation). I am telling you that you will be better off just saying what you mean rather than using some contract that you do not understand.


Of course, the BEST thing you can do is get an attorney to draft a contract for you.

And there is no point bringing one of THESE contracts in this thread or anywhere else on the internet to an attorney to look over. If you are going to go to an attorney, the attorney will just write up a contract for you that says exactly what you want it to say. an attorney will not waste his time trying to fix some contract you found on the internet.



IF YOU USE A CONTRACT YOU FIND ON THE INTERNET. YOU WILL END UP VERY DISAPPOINTED.

True too. Most of these contracts make it seem like writing a contract is the most complicated thing in the world. In reality, it's not.

Except for certain specific situations, you don't even need to have something in writing to have a legally binding contract. The problem there is that if there's a problem, you're leaving it up to a court to decide exactly what the agreement was.

Going to court is the last thing you want to do when there's a dispute, so having something in writing is the best way to make sure that each party knows what's going on. Downloading a form contract that you don't understand does little to help.

Writing a basic contract isn't that hard actually. Specify what exactly both parties are in agreement in, and specify what you are giving as consideration. For example, "Mr. Beatmaker will provide a beat for x amount of dollars." Then fill in any additional terms that are relevant, like who keeps the copyright, who gets the publishing, etc. You can add more as you become more comfortable with legally allocating risks and such, for example, maybe an arbitration or forum selection clause for any potential disputes.
 
Having read all the post i got completely complicated. My bad english makes it even worse.

I got a question that is not answered fro me yet.

Here it is:

Lets say I'm a producer. I make instrumentals in my home studio, i dont collaborate with anyone but I want to sell my beats (exclusive and non-exclusive rights) over the internet...
I need a contract to define the rights etc, right? Can i just wrote a contract myself (or use for example the one from this thread) and use it for my business???

Actually, i know that i can, but i can't completely figure out how to do that and how all the things work.

I can understand when a major label gives you a contract - they have lawyers that can draw up and register the contract oficially. That's their job and they know how it's have to be done.
But who needs a contract that's written by me? I'm not a lawyer, i dont represent any organization and so on. I'm just a home made producer that wanna sell my beats. Does a contract made by me have a legal force?

I have seen alot of myspace pages where young producers are trying to sell their beats and some of them provide their beats with the contracts. They post the pictures of the contracts on their page to show how it looks like. There are just one page of paper with the words like "producer joe produced the beat BLABLA and sells it to the BLABLA for BLABLA dollars" and at there is two places for the producer's and artist's (customer's) signature at the bottom of the page.

Can be the contract like that used???

I mean its easy to fabricate a contract like this - its kinda protected by only signatures of the parts. And even if u find out that someone falsify your contract and made money on it (like he was selling the beat u sold him to alot of people two times more xpensive, or was selling beats stolen from u) can u take it into court???

Could someone clarify all the things, please?
 
FastSamurai said:
Having read all the post i got completely complicated. My bad english makes it even worse.

I got a question that is not answered fro me yet.

Here it is:

Lets say I'm a producer. I make instrumentals in my home studio, i dont collaborate with anyone but I want to sell my beats (exclusive and non-exclusive rights) over the internet...
I need a contract to define the rights etc, right? Can i just wrote a contract myself (or use for example the one from this thread) and use it for my business???
Absolutely.

Actually, i know that i can, but i can't completely figure out how to do that and how all the things work.

I can understand when a major label gives you a contract - they have lawyers that can draw up and register the contract oficially. That's their job and they know how it's have to be done.
But who needs a contract that's written by me? I'm not a lawyer, i dont represent any organization and so on. I'm just a home made producer that wanna sell my beats. Does a contract made by me have a legal force?
Again, absolutely. Your contract has just as much force as one drawn up by a corporate lawyer (in some cases even more). There's no such thing as "registering a contract officially". The only thing that makes a contract official is whether there was an agreement between two parties (or, offer, acceptance, and consideration for anyone that's had a contracts class - read the link in my previous post in this thread for more about that). In all but a few cases, it doesn't even need to be in writing. Obviously, it's a lot better to get it in writing since you have a record of exactly what each person agreed to, and if there's a dispute and you end up in court, you don't have to prove what the oral agreement was.
I have seen alot of myspace pages where young producers are trying to sell their beats and some of them provide their beats with the contracts. They post the pictures of the contracts on their page to show how it looks like. There are just one page of paper with the words like "producer joe produced the beat BLABLA and sells it to the BLABLA for BLABLA dollars" and at there is two places for the producer's and artist's (customer's) signature at the bottom of the page.

Can be the contract like that used???

I mean its easy to fabricate a contract like this - its kinda protected by only signatures of the parts. And even if u find out that someone falsify your contract and made money on it (like he was selling the beat u sold him to alot of people two times more xpensive, or was selling beats stolen from u) can u take it into court???

Could someone clarify all the things, please?
Yeah, if someone breaches your contract, and you have no other recourse, you can take them to court. This is why it's helpful to have a lawyer draw up your contract, or at least look over one you wrote/got off the internet, because there might be situations or laws you were not aware of that aren't covered in your contract, or the contract doesn't protect you from certain risks you did not know about.

Not sure what you mean about fabricating a contract.
 
Good answer, galacticboy. Thanx alot.

And here is one more question:
How do contracts usually get signed by parties when someone sells his instrumental over the internet?

I mean if im gonna sell my beat to someone, i gotta print my contract in two copies out and send them to the customer? And he, having signed them gotta leave one copy for himself and send another one back to me? Or how it usually happens?

Sorry for my lack of information i just never worked with contracts and other papers before... and for my english too)
 
FastSamurai said:
Good answer, galacticboy. Thanx alot.

And here is one more question:
How do contracts usually get signed by parties when someone sells his instrumental over the internet?

I mean if im gonna sell my beat to someone, i gotta print my contract in two copies out and send them to the customer? And he, having signed them gotta leave one copy for himself and send another one back to me? Or how it usually happens?

Sorry for my lack of information i just never worked with contracts and other papers before... and for my english too)

Doesn't have to be that complicated. You can sign the contract and send it to the customer, or even sign and fax if you have access to a fax machine.
 
galacticboy said:
Doesn't have to be that complicated. You can sign the contract and send it to the customer, or even sign and fax if you have access to a fax machine.

But u have to have the contract signed by customer also, right? So, how do u get it if u send the only copy to customer?
 
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