😕 Hi People,
Just wondering if its possible to put new Albums on vinyl then sell them legally and what would need to be done to sell them legally if anyone knows 🙂
Just wondering if its possible to put new Albums on vinyl then sell them legally and what would need to be done to sell them legally if anyone knows 🙂
Legally? Not sure what laws you are worried about. You cannot put someone else's music on vinyl and sell it, not without their permission and all that goes with it. But if you want to sell recordings of your own music, why would vinyl be any different from CD or cassette tape?
If this is by way of trade then the business would need to be registered with the tax people, as for any other business. Some arrangement would have to be made for the copyright holders, if any, to be paid their royalties. You will have to tell us more, as it is unclear to me exactly what you are asking.
Hi, thanks for the replies.
I was Just thinking about selling albums on old unavailable formats like vinyl and Cassette because there is some people still interested in older formats.
I'm just not sure about how to pay the royalties and if its possible to do?
I already know how to record on them formats though.
I was Just thinking about selling albums on old unavailable formats like vinyl and Cassette because there is some people still interested in older formats.
I'm just not sure about how to pay the royalties and if its possible to do?
I already know how to record on them formats though.
You haven't added any new information. Whose albums? Who owns the music? If you intend taking existing released music and copying it to a new medium and then selling it you will quickly find the copyright holders' lawyers chasing you for money and apologies.
To make a legal copy you need the copyright holder's permission; it is not enough to pay them later. Until recently under UK law you could not even copy something for your own personal use, although this law was widely ignored and not enforced.
To make a legal copy you need the copyright holder's permission; it is not enough to pay them later. Until recently under UK law you could not even copy something for your own personal use, although this law was widely ignored and not enforced.
Go talk to a lawyer, particularly one familiar with copyright and entertainment law.
The laws in England are probably a little different than Canada, but our legal systems are quite similar, so I'll give you a little bit of a run down of how it would work here. This is for information only, not advice, like I said... go talk to a LAWYER.
If the recording in question is in the public domain (old, time period varies based on type of work, country, international treaties, etc) then you would likely be fine.
If it is a modern recording, well... it might already be on Vinyl depending on the band for one. Second, the artist/label or their assignee/licensee(can be different based on region and other factors) hold copyright, meaning they get to control the work and its reproduction. This includes reproductions in different formats. You would need their prior permission to produce copies and sell them. This could include paying royalties, license fees, etc. Likely the artists label would be the ones with the say on reproductions of the work...and probably wouldn't be too favourable to the idea without a nice licence fee up front.
If it were for your sole use and enjoyment or educational purposes, it might fall under what is called fair dealing, or other provisions that allow you to make your own copies of works you already own a copy of. This is for YOUR OWN use, you cannot sell these or otherwise distribute them except where it constitutes fair dealing. If you own a CD, and make a cassette copy for your own use, this would probably be fine under the Canadian Copy Right Act.
Recap: It is not a simple as making a copy and paying a royalty for copyrighted work. You need prior permission. If you are serious about this venture, talk to a lawyer, however, a surprising amount of new music is available on vinyl, and even some on cassette (I get vinyl...not so much cassette). If it isn't available on vinyl already, there likely isn't enough of a market to make a production run worthwhile in many cases. Unlike burning CDs, and recording to tape producing high quality vinyl isn't feasible in one-off type production, it is a mass production process involving tooling and other setup costs.
What you would be able to maybe do is sell a service where you take a customer's legal copy of a work, and produce a one-off non-infringing copy for their use. This would be closer to the line, and would require a signed statement that the copy is for the owners personal uses/backup. This would likely be viable with tape formats, but not so much for vinyl. Again, talk to a lawyer familiar with English copyright law.
Sorry to be a downer, but the music industry takes copyright VERY seriously, and as vinyl is the only physical format with sales growth I wouldn't mess with them over it.
The laws in England are probably a little different than Canada, but our legal systems are quite similar, so I'll give you a little bit of a run down of how it would work here. This is for information only, not advice, like I said... go talk to a LAWYER.
If the recording in question is in the public domain (old, time period varies based on type of work, country, international treaties, etc) then you would likely be fine.
If it is a modern recording, well... it might already be on Vinyl depending on the band for one. Second, the artist/label or their assignee/licensee(can be different based on region and other factors) hold copyright, meaning they get to control the work and its reproduction. This includes reproductions in different formats. You would need their prior permission to produce copies and sell them. This could include paying royalties, license fees, etc. Likely the artists label would be the ones with the say on reproductions of the work...and probably wouldn't be too favourable to the idea without a nice licence fee up front.
If it were for your sole use and enjoyment or educational purposes, it might fall under what is called fair dealing, or other provisions that allow you to make your own copies of works you already own a copy of. This is for YOUR OWN use, you cannot sell these or otherwise distribute them except where it constitutes fair dealing. If you own a CD, and make a cassette copy for your own use, this would probably be fine under the Canadian Copy Right Act.
Recap: It is not a simple as making a copy and paying a royalty for copyrighted work. You need prior permission. If you are serious about this venture, talk to a lawyer, however, a surprising amount of new music is available on vinyl, and even some on cassette (I get vinyl...not so much cassette). If it isn't available on vinyl already, there likely isn't enough of a market to make a production run worthwhile in many cases. Unlike burning CDs, and recording to tape producing high quality vinyl isn't feasible in one-off type production, it is a mass production process involving tooling and other setup costs.
What you would be able to maybe do is sell a service where you take a customer's legal copy of a work, and produce a one-off non-infringing copy for their use. This would be closer to the line, and would require a signed statement that the copy is for the owners personal uses/backup. This would likely be viable with tape formats, but not so much for vinyl. Again, talk to a lawyer familiar with English copyright law.
Sorry to be a downer, but the music industry takes copyright VERY seriously, and as vinyl is the only physical format with sales growth I wouldn't mess with them over it.
Hi DF96,
Well an example I guess would be an album owned by RCA. If I wanted to sell some of there albums I know I would need to ask there permission but would that be hard to do if anyone knows? Unless it's not worth doing?
Well an example I guess would be an album owned by RCA. If I wanted to sell some of there albums I know I would need to ask there permission but would that be hard to do if anyone knows? Unless it's not worth doing?
Hi cjmurphy87 ,
thanks for all the information. I guess it sounds like it wouldn't be worth doing?
but the idea of copying a persons own pre-recorded album sounds for there own use sounds interesting.
thanks for all the information. I guess it sounds like it wouldn't be worth doing?
but the idea of copying a persons own pre-recorded album sounds for there own use sounds interesting.
- Status
- Not open for further replies.