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Question: Who gets to keep playing/record a song after a band splits up!?
If you write a song, then join a band, and the band performs it, then breaks up, does the songwriter keep the song, or is it just no one's song any more!? Or if the songwriter gets kicked out of the band, can they take their song with them, or do the remaining members keep playing it and record it!?Www@QuestionHome@Com


Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
Theres not much legallity involved unless there are contracts signed!. If the whole band signs contracts with a label for instance, each member of the band can perform that song still and still use the same band name!. EACH ONE OF THEM!!! In fact, if you sign a contract with the record label giving them any amount of rights to your music, they can actually put together a band with none of you in it, call it the same name and play your songs!.

if you don't have any contracts it really doesn't matter!. No other band can play your songs if you have recorded them first!.

but without any of that, if your a smaller band, it's really just up to if you want to deal with the other members of the band getting mad at you for stealing a song that "they" wrote!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

There have been hundreds, if not thousands, of lawsuits to determine this!. The bottom line is that a songwriter who has legally copyrighted a song will be the owner of that song until the copyright expires, and will collect the composer's royalties!. Who has the right to perform songs is much more complicated and former band mates frequently sue each other to resolve that question!. The outcome depends on how good your attorney is, the opinion of the judge about such matters, and other factors!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Ups to feeding scenesters to lions!.

Creative and intellectual rights are covered in the contract, and will often end up being the property of the record company if you aren't careful!.

If you're not talking contracts, then its a matter of the songwriter covering their butt!.!.!.!. they should copyright the song!. That way, if another band member decides to preemptively call the song their own, then the songwriter has the legal ability to stop them!. Of course, this only applies to money!.

Band member A writes song, band member B records the song for the new band's CD and starts making some money off of it!. Band member A can now sue band member B for copyright infringement, if they actually did copyright the song!. No copyright = yer screwed!.

Now, if bandmember B is going around saying that they actually wrote the song and band member A is a poser, and band member B is playing that song live!.!.!.!. well, there's not much legally that band member A can do, except possibly take them to court!? Hard to say!.

Good luck!. =)

SaulWww@QuestionHome@Com

whomever wrote it (if it's published) gets a royalty for each time the song is purchased/played (say if chris daughtrey decides to do a cover of it)!. but if the band records it on an album then whatever the record deal was stands with that split going to the band accordingly- but to emphasize, whomever is the published author of the song owns the song- not the performanceWww@QuestionHome@Com

The writer would have to protect themselves legally by copywriting and obtaining various rights to the song!.!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

the ones who were performing in the recording I thinkWww@QuestionHome@Com