Re: "Fixation" question

On 7/11/98, Carl Oppedahl <carl[_at_]oppedahl.com> wrote:
>
> On 7/9/98, Roger Cloud <roger_cloud[_at_]emu.com> wrote:
> >
> > A singer sings a brief but somewhat distinctive phrase (e.g., a yodel -
> > not wildly distinctive, and the person isn't famous, although he works
> > in the trade). A recording engineer hits the "record" button.
> >
> > Does anyone know what specific authority/precedent there is on who has
> > "fixed," i.e., "originated" the sound recording, absent (or ignoring
> > whether there are) any other facts (such as release, assignment)?
>
> If the recorder is going, then it is fixed in a tangible medium. The
> statute does not recite any requirement as to who, exactly, pressed the
> "record" button.
>
> The owner of the copyright is, of course, the author, regardless of the
> identity of the person who happened to press the "record" button.

I'm concerned with who owns the sound recording copyright, not the copyright to the words and/or music. In copyright, a work is "fixed" and thus susceptible of copyright protection in behalf of the author when the fixation is made "by or under the authority of the author," but "author" is not defined. As Al Kohn put it in Kohn On Music Licensing, "it is not always possible or practical for you to originate a work, and in some cases you may be unable to use the 'work for hire' status in dealing with your contractors."

This goes to the issue - what if there is no clear understanding of (or agreement on) who "authored" the phrase (actually, my hypo should have probably said that the fellow running the session hits "record," so as to suggest he is arguably the author).

Roger Cloud
<roger_cloud[_at_]emu.com> Received on Mon Jul 13 1998 - 15:57:27 GMT