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Re: Slash playing Guns N Roses songs
You can't give away copyright, it is always intrinsically linked to the original author(s). You can license someone else to use/perform/resell/manage/make profit from your copyrighted material, but the author always retains performance and recording rights as well. I believe the way copyright registration is set up it always covers the whole song, it does not provide a way of assigning copyright to specific persons for specific parts or sections (so, for the AFD stuff for example, all then-members are authors of those entire songs).
So, there is nothing Axl can do to keep Slash (or Izzy, Duff, Bucket, Robin, Steven, ...) from performing or 'covering' songs that they have writing credits for.
Getting paid for something you wrote is a given, but I was under the impression that if you want to sell a product that isn't yours you have to get permission to do so. Anyone can't just cover a song and release it can they?
At least that's what I've heard in the past. The question then becomes, why are you allowed to perform songs live without permission? This also makes you money from someone elses material. Yes, they do get paid, but they can't stop it either?
Or am I way off the track here? Does permission play into one or the other?
Re: Slash playing Guns N Roses songs
Anyone can't just cover a song and release it can they?
Yes they can. If the song has been "released" it is totally legal to cover it as long as you pay the PRO fees. A band cannot stop you from covering their music. Axl cannot stop slash and vice versa. BUT everytime Axl plays a song Slash has a writting credit on Slash gets paid and vice versa.
"The question then becomes, why are you allowed to perform songs live without permission? This also makes you money from someone elses material. Yes, they do get paid, but they can't stop it either?"
Performance rights are public and open to all. You don't need permission to play anybody's music.
Re: Slash playing Guns N Roses songs
That really surprises me, because when it comes to movies and stuff you can't just "cover" material without permission. Like making a film named Star Wars and having a character named Luke Skywalker in it. Isn't that pretty much the same as releasing a song called Live and Let Die with the exact same lyrics and music? I always assumed that kind of stuff would be covered by the same copyright laws. Also, didn't Slash and co stop Axl from using a rerecorded Jungle in Black Hawk Down?
Re: Slash playing Guns N Roses songs
Axl owns the GNR name but Slash retains his copyrights.
Even with releases, I'd imagine it's a "I won't fuck with you, If you don't fuck with me" silent agreement.
Like Slash won't raise an objection to Appetite for Democracy Blu Ray, if Axl doesn't say anything about He releasing something with his band playing GNR songs.
