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Hi folks - could I get a quick bit of advice please? I was in a band that now split - there were 5 of us and I was the techy guy/keyboardist/co-writer. We split about a year ago. Never had any record deals or anything. Had a good time, made some good tunes.

A Channel 4 sports programme has approached me asking for permission to use the three tracks from our old MySpace on its shows. Nice! Obviously won't make money or anything, but it'll be nice to get the onscreen credit. They've sent me a contract to sign.

Even though the band is history, I want to just make sure this contract is OK. I guess I'm wondering, do I need to get permission from the other guys who were in the band before I sign the contract, even though there were no official agreements? Is there anything I should be careful of in the contract?

I'd be grateful for any feedback or suggestions on this, and I've included the text of the contract below. Please have a read and let me know what you think!

LICENCE TO USE EXISTING MATERIAL

1 You hereby grant to us and persons authorised or licensed by us the non-exclusive right to broadcast and transmit all or part of the Material (as defined below) in connection with the Boomerang produced programmes ‘Freesports on 4’, ‘Freeride’ and ‘360 Surfing’ in its original format and in any edits, re-edits or versions of the programmes under any programme title and in extracts and trailers taken there from the Production, along with the exploitation, promotion and/or advertising of the Production throughout the world in perpetuity by all means and in all media whether now known or hereafter discovered or developed (including without limitation broadcasting by television and inclusion in cable programmes, making available by any and all broadcast media including, without limitation, on the Internet whether by means of static webpage, webcast, download or otherwise), together with all performers consents and permissions, all rights of publicity and promotion of the performers, the right to use any trademarks, data, images and all musical compositions embodied on the “Tracks” ( as defined in clause 2 below).

2 For the purposes of this letter, "the Material" shall mean the sound recording provided by you of 3 tracks, namely “(track 1)”, “(track 2)” and “(track 3)” (“the Tracks”) embodying the performances of the artist(s) known as “(Band Name)“.

3 You warrant that you are entitled to grant to us the rights referred to in paragraph 1 above free of all encumbrances and restrictions and that the exercise of such rights will not (a) infringe the copyright, performers rights, moral rights or any other personal or property rights of any person or (b) entitle any person to claI'm any payment from us or from any of our licensees. You agree to indemnify us against all and any costs, claims, expenses and liabilities (including, without limitation, legal fees on an indemnity basis and any sums paid on the advice of Counsel or by Court order) resulting from breach by you of any of the agreements and/or warranties on your part contained in this agreement.

4 You will make available to us on request a CD of the recordings in order for us to dub the Material into the Production. The CD you supply will be technically suitable for this purpose.

5 The consideration for the grant of the rights by you is the promotional opportunity that it gives to you. You warrant that you are not a member of MCPS. There is no fee for the rights granted other than any dubbing fees or publishing royalties payable by the broadcaster pursuant to any blanket licence arrangements which will be paid and collected by the relevant collection societies where applicable (PRS only). We shall not be obliged to include the Material in the Production but where we do use the Material you will receive an onscreen credit.

6 We shall be entitled to assign the benefit of this agreement and any or all of our rights in the Production to any third party in whole or in part. This Agreement will be binding on and to the benefit of our successors and assigns. You shall not be entitled to assign this agreement or any part thereof without our prior approval.

7 This agreement shall be governed by and construed under the laws of England and Wales whose courts shall have exclusive jurisdiction.

Comments

TVPostSound Wed, 07/18/2007 - 21:50

Why would you allow them to use your music for free????
They do have a budget for music, its going into the show producer's pocket.

RE_READ Paragraph 6. This means they have the right to pass this contract on to 3rd parties.

You WILL get sued by your ex-band mates if they have had any part in the crative process. You must advise them before signing, you DONT have the right by yourself.
You should also get published to seek the royalties.

anonymous Thu, 07/19/2007 - 02:30

thanks for the inout - yeah makes sense.

How exactly do I get published to seek the royalties? Is that PRS or not?

Also, I've had permission off the co-writer of the songs (who I still work with), but not the others in the band - I e-mailed them and none of them replied! However they basically just played on the tracks written by me and the co-writer - although they still contributed little bits i.e. drum lines, the odd note here and there etc. How does this figure?

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