Discussion:
New York
Hi,
There is this new band signed to Interscope records. They have an album that was due out this winter. The drummer of the band sent me the songs of the album and I sent it out to a couple other people. One of the people I sent it to leaked information to the lead vocalist and got the drummer fired. Now the lead vocalist is after me. A man e-mailed me claiming he owned copyrights to the songs and if I don't send him the CD with the songs to his office within a certain number of days, he will take legal action.
I did distribute the songs to 4 other people and at one point was going to sell it as a bootleg on ebay but Interscope demanded that I take it down and it was. Since it was never sold.
Am I at risk for prosecution?
Shouldn't the drummer be at more risk than I am?
Also, how would I know if the songs the drummer sent me were copyrighted?
Any advice would be great.
Thanks in advace
Answer:
Am I at risk for prosecution? Prosecution? No, this isnt a criminal situation. But you could potentially be sued for copyright infringement, depending on the exact facts of your situation.
Shouldn't the drummer be at more risk than I am? Probably.
Also, how would I know if the songs the drummer sent me were copyrighted? Well, since copyright is automatic, you can pretty much count on everything being copyrighted these days.
Any advice would be great. Why not just send him the CD like he is asking?