Flashing the Bat-Signal / Posting a lost artist online?

alexdingley

Hey all,

So... this might be a grey area these days, but I thought I'd put this out there. About 10 years ago, I was a staff engineer at a studio in Philadelphia where we recorded small & medium size projects. Bands, choirs, etc... That studio is effectively out of business, and didn't have great record keeping.

I recorded a few bands / projects that I'm proud of... one group, in particular, was just wonderful. I listen to their project all the time. They come up in my iTunes at random and it always makes me happy. The trouble is, they clearly disbanded almost immediately after the recording project. Not only do I wish that they'd stayed together and continued to make music.... but I want people to hear their music, and also my recording. Ten years ago, they okay'd me to put clips of their recording in my demo reel... but I have no way of reaching them now. Can't remember last names, no contact info. And there's no myspace music page, just a partially archived geocities page with lyrics and no contact info.

I'm thinking about putting one track of theirs up on my soundcloud page with detailed info expressing that this IS NOT my original work, but a recording I engineered. But there's a part of me that is hesitant to do that because I don't have a copyright.

It actually makes me think that a very interesting thread would be "What's your favorite broken-up artist that you've worked with?... post a clip"

So, what do you guys think? Am I risking any credibility before I even build it?
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Alex Dingley Sound Recording | 215-645-7079 | facebook | twitter | linkedin

Snarl 12/8

I'll probably get slammed *hard* for this, but my opinion is that you should go for it. Also include a very clear way for them to contact you in the credits where you say it's not your work and respond quickly to any cease and desist notice you get. Sometimes it's better to ask for forgiveness after than permission before. A lawyer actually told me that, albeit not in the case of possible copyright infringement.
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Carl Keil

vvv

I agree.
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vlayman; THD; blog; TFP

Gregg Juke

+2

GJ

**TapeOpLarry**

In an age where people post obviously copyrighted works on YouTube daily and the dmca protects this BS, I can't imagine you'll get in trouble.
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Larry Crane, Editor/Founder Tape Op Magazine
please visit www.tapeop.com for contact information
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www.larry-crane.com

**cgarges**

I would guess that if you're not selling it, the worst that could happen is that someone could ask you to take it down. I could be wrong about that, though.

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC
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www.chrisgarges.com
www.oldhousestudio.com
Bunky Moon, The Public Good
Playing drums with Mitch Easter

top_ape · alignin' 24-trk Joined: 24 May 2011 Posts: 71

Yeah realistically all they can do is ask you to cease and decist (take it down). It would be near impossible to prove any damages (and likely cost more than they'd even hope to recover anyway); moreover, you've made a reasonable effort to get in touch AND you've already been granted permission to use the recordings to self promote.

I wouldn't worry too much.

top_ape · alignin' 24-trk Joined: 24 May 2011 Posts: 71

Just to be clear I'm not a lawyer. Though I've had some dealings in the area...

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