When I was asking Todd Uglow my questions, he was answered without hesitation. Todd did not go into a lot of detail when answering my questions, but he gave me enough information to make sure I had a clear answer to my questions. His thought process was very stream like in a way going from one explanation to the other. In no time, I had the answers to my questions.
Question 1. If I own a recording studio and I hire a sound engineer and he decides to record his band as a side project at my studio, do I have rights to the songs they just recorded?
Answer - Todd said, that the sound engineers band would pay to rent the equipment at a certain and they will retain the copyrights for everything they create. Unless I, as the owner specify that they can use the equipment for free for a cut in the copyright ownership.
Question 2. If an internet radio streams one of my bands songs without our permission, could we collect royalties for how many times the song has played?
Answer - Mr. Uglow said I possibly could go after the site. If I am aware about what is going on then yes I could go after them and collect royalties. Then on the other hand if I am aware, I only have a limited amount of time to go after them. Then he said, both internet radio and radio stations need licensing to play artists' songs. This would be licensing of copyrights which is "a method by which the owner of a copyright gives permission for another to use or copy an original work of authorship." (Patent, Copyright, and Trademark, Richard Stim, Pg. 289) My band being the owner of the copyrights to the song being streamed, have the chance to collect.
Question 3. If a company has a logo that looks similar to my bands and they use it in a derogatory way, can my band sue the company for trademark infringement? "Trademark infringement is the unauthorized use of a trademark or service mark (or a substantially similar mark) on competing or related goods and services." (Patent, Copyright, and Trademark, Richard Stim, Pg. 446)
Answer - Todd replied that again I possibly could and that the law isn't as black and white as some may think. He said that the courts would look at a number of things, if the companies are in the same industry and how similar the marks look. Uglow then mentioned something about "trademark dilution" which is a principle where "owners of a famous trademark may prevent it from being used by others on unrelated goods" (Patent, Copyright, and Trademark, Richard Stim, Pg. 386) If the trademark falls under dilution then we can go after them for trademark infringement.
Question 4. Is the only way to use a sample of another artist's song is to ask for permission from them?
Answer - This was a pretty simple question for Todd to answer. The only way to sample an artist's song is to ask for permission. If you don't that is copyright infringement which is "any unauthorized use of a copyrighted work that violates the copyright owner's exclusive rights in the work constitutes an infringement." (Patent, Copyright, and Trademark, Richard Stim, Pg. 237)
Question 5. If a band wants to cover one of my bands songs and put it on their album, would we be able to collect a certain amount for royalties for every album they sell with the cover they did our song?
Answer - Todd said, yes, the band would get a percentage of each album sold with that bands cover of our song. It is usually a 10th of a percentage for each sale. Depending on how big the song is, determines how much we could get back in royalties. My band would be granting that an exclusive license which is "a contract in writing which a copyright owner authorizes another person or entity to exclusively exercise one or more of the rights that belong to the copyright owner under the copyright." (Patent, Copyright, and Trademark, Richard Stim, Pg. 261) We would still collect royalties from being the songwriters.
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