Songwriters - copyright question

[thecreativeguys]

Reply to @sincere18: The reason I said that is exactly what you mentioned. Fiverr stated “extra $10.00” for commercial use.



That means anything sold on Fiverr does NOT include full ownership. Also, i Wouldn’t think so at a $5 price tag. (although price means nothing when it comes to law…)



In the event which someone or something drastic happens then I would consider fiverr adding a terms to this sort of stuff saying that before the initial purchase, both parties should understand these :etc." agreements.

[l3chsedaudio]

I think that what a lot of people are forgetting is that licencing is not the same as “owning the copyright”- I haven’t gotten very many gigs on fiverr(but I’ve gotten more lucrative gigs elsewhere), but I usually have to explain the difference and advantages of both. A buyer isn’t being generous by “letting me use it in my portfolio”- that’s typically a given for creative work. Once this is explained, if the buyer is a reasonable person, they usually opt for the cheaper option that would be licensing it for use in their film or whatever they need it for, which still allows me to sell the soundtrack for personal listening use like any other person scoring a film.

[una4987]

Yes, I agree. I´m surprised some of you are surprised with my attitude. There are many people who think ghostwriting is unethical and a fraud. The fact that he sucks at writing doesn´t really justify him fooling the whole world into thinking he´s an awesome writer. It´s not a question if it´s unethical, the question is just do you want to do it or not? I did get burned here a couple of times, for not understanding the terminology and what exactly means “work for hire” since I´m not American. But, I did some research, and indeed in American law, in “work for hire” the copyright belongs to the buyer. In the European Civil Law, the copyright still belongs to the author evan in a “work for hire” situation unless agreed differently in a written contract. Which makes much more sense. Art is not like buying a car or shoes, so when you buy it you own it. Evan when you buy a car you don´t go around telling people you made it lol. Also, based on my research it seems like the American law doesn´t recognize moral rights? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moral_rights

[una4987]

Yes, I agree. I´m surprised some of you are surprised with my attitude. There are many people who think ghostwriting is unethical and a fraud. The fact that he sucks at writing doesn´t really justify him fooling the whole world into thinking he´s an awesome writer. It´s not a question if it´s unethical, the question is just do you want to do it or not? I did get burned here a couple of times, for not understanding the terminology and what exactly means “work for hire” since I´m not American. But, I did some research, and indeed in American law, in “work for hire” the copyright belongs to the buyer. In the European Civil Law, the copyright still belongs to the author evan in a “work for hire” situation unless agreed differently in a written contract. Which makes much more sense. Art is not like buying a car or shoes, so when you buy it you own it. Evan when you buy a car you don´t go around telling people you made it lol. Also, based on my research it seems like the American law doesn´t recognize moral rights? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moral_rights

[landongrace]

In the US, it costs about $7000 in attorney’s fee to begin an intellectual rights claim or to defend a claim against you. I have a Songwriter friend in Nashville that has a false lawsuit against him about ever 2-3 years claiming his hit song was not his. The last time it cost him about $20,000 to defend his position.



As a writer on Fiverr, what protects you from that liability?

[sincere18]

Reply to @thecreativeguys: Not totally true, you fully own it for your own personal use and the seller cannot sell it to someone else. Commercial license is an extra in some categories only, not all.



I suspect it was added to certain categories because they were getting legal complaints of some form, at least that is just my guess.



But this is where the Fiverr platform does cause a lot of confusion.

[sincere18]

Reply to @landongrace: there really is no protection other than the fact that no real names are used. So if anyone were to try and sue, they would have to sue Fiverr first in order to even get the name released to them…

[thecreativeguys]

Reply to @sincere18: You do not fully own it whatsoever. The second it is placed on the buyer’s hands there is a privacy right which comes into effect, so you may not resell it in SOME cases.



For example, I sell a readymade logo to someone. 20 others also bought it.



That’s because there are rights and then commercial rights and copyright. It’s a real hard subject so i don’t really go there! 🙂

[tamarapereir397]

Hi there 🙂 I am a musician too. Songwriter, vocal melody creator and singer.
I don’t know if you do this as a freelancer for long but it sounds like you don’t. I say this because as a musician I don’t want to have my name in every projects I do. I want my name in my stuff. The stuff that I will present with my name. Things I designed and agreed to.

When freelancing, the client buys me lyrics and after that he can do whatever he wants with them.
Maybe he will use an awful voice or the instrumental is shit or maybe the style is not what I want to present to the world with my name on it. So, in my opinion this is good.

Of course I love all the lyrics I write and some of them will love to use in my own personal music projects but well… I can write many others and I am certain they will be good as well. Actually, time is suppose to improve our skills and not the contrary 😁

Wish you all the best and good luck here on Fiverr 🍀

[tamarapereir397]

Yes, I agree. I´m surprised some of you are surprised with my attitude. There are many people who think ghostwriting is unethical and a fraud. The fact that he sucks at writing doesn´t really justify him fooling the whole world into thinking he´s an awesome writer. It´s not a question if it´s unethical, the question is just do you want to do it or not? I did get burned here a couple of times, for not understanding the terminology and what exactly means “work for hire” since I´m not American. But, I did some research, and indeed in American law, in “work for hire” the copyright belongs to the buyer. In the European Civil Law, the copyright still belongs to the author evan in a “work for hire” situation unless agreed differently in a written contract. Which makes much more sense. Art is not like buying a car or shoes, so when you buy it you own it. Evan when you buy a car you don´t go around telling people you made it lol. Also, based on my research it seems like the American law doesn´t recognize moral rights? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moral_rights

I am European as well and yes it’s different.

But like, think with me… If you were already paid for your services why would you be receiving the rights also? Like, most buyers don’t wanna say they wrote the song, they just want to receive all the royalties and not share them with us so they pay us what WE think is worth. You have to keep in mind that the song you are selling may turn into a famous worldwide hit and you will not receive anything.

Anyway, my clients often send me messages asking if they can use my name to give me credits. When I like the final product I agree, when I don’t like I say no.

[lloydsolutions]

I am European as well and yes it’s different.

But like, think with me… If you were already paid for your services why would you be receiving the rights also? Like, most buyers don’t wanna say they wrote the song, they just want to receive all the royalties and not share them with us so they pay us what WE think is worth. You have to keep in mind that the song you are selling may turn into a famous worldwide hit and you will not receive anything.

Anyway, my clients often send me messages asking if they can use my name to give me credits. When I like the final product I agree, when I don’t like I say no.

@tamarapereir397 You are replying 5 years later. Maybe you didn’t notice.

[tamarapereir397]

una4987 said: I feel like I lost a lot of customers for not wanting to do that.

You have, most buyers want to own the work. While I don’t sign non-disclosure agreements (that violates Fiverr laws about communication), I make it clear that what I do for the buyer belongs to the buyer. The only exception is when he gives me a bad review.

In the end, you can always keep that song you wrote in your portfolio, you should even ask singers to send you the recorded songs because you’re dying to see how they did it. But if you become too protective of your work, you’re not going to get a lot of sales.

You also have to realize that successful singers will hire you again, many times, so why be difficult? Just give them what they want, and make money.

The only exception is when he gives me a bad review.

What do you mean? How do you do it? Do you have that explained in your profile or gig description or you say it directly to the buyer?

Thank you

[tamarapereir397]

@tamarapereir397 You are replying 5 years later. Maybe you didn’t notice.

:roll_eyes: Oops

[fastcopywriter]

The only exception is when he gives me a bad review.

What do you mean? How do you do it? Do you have that explained in your profile or gig description or you say it directly to the buyer?

Thank you

What do you mean? How do you do it? Do you have that explained in your profile or gig description or you say it directly to the buyer?

Suppose you hire me to write brand names about toys, and I give you ToyDepot dot com. You didn’t like my work, you gave me 3 stars, so I will save that creation and if another client wants toy brand names, that will be one of the options I will show. It won’t be the only option. Is it ethical? I will always check the dot com to see if it’s still available.

With that said, 99.99% of the time I’m creating 100% original work. So if 50 pizzerias hire me, each one will get a different name.

[tamarapereir397]

What do you mean? How do you do it? Do you have that explained in your profile or gig description or you say it directly to the buyer?

Suppose you hire me to write brand names about toys, and I give you ToyDepot dot com. You didn’t like my work, you gave me 3 stars, so I will save that creation and if another client wants toy brand names, that will be one of the options I will show. It won’t be the only option. Is it ethical? I will always check the dot com to see if it’s still available.

With that said, 99.99% of the time I’m creating 100% original work. So if 50 pizzerias hire me, each one will get a different name.

wow! don’t think that’s ethical at all but maybe that’s just me.

It may be a toy brand but is not the same toy brand. If I have a company for toys I don’t want you to create a name just about toys. My company will have something that differs me from other companies and that may be portrayed in the name.

It’s like me having a bunch of lyrics written and just deliver them to my clients. NO! I work specifically for each one of my clients, thinking about them and their expectations!

[fastcopywriter]

wow! don’t think that’s ethical at all but maybe that’s just me.

It may be a toy brand but is not the same toy brand. If I have a company for toys I don’t want you to create a name just about toys. My company will have something that differs me from other companies and that may be portrayed in the name.

It’s like me having a bunch of lyrics written and just deliver them to my clients. NO! I work specifically for each one of my clients, thinking about them and their expectations!

If that’s the case, you should do a trademark check or pay me to do it. On your own, you should do a google check, see what comes up.

As for ethical, the client already gave me a bad review, which implies he didn’t like the work, which implies the work won’t be used. If that’s the case, why not give it to another client who will love it? Why throw it in the garbage and make it disappear forever? To me that would be wasteful.

Like the creative director who kills an idea just because it was done in 1982. So what? I can be done again. Look at Romeo & Juliet, how many times has done been done? How many versions of it exists? Must be dozens. Even movies from the 80s and 90s aren’t safe, they’re all getting reboots because the kids don’t like watching old movies. Ironically, I like the original versions of those movies better than the remakes, the only exception is the Judge Dredd remake which was 100% different than the original, that one I enjoyed.

[brentru]

Hello, I’d like to remind you that getting any payments outside of Fiverr ie. Royalties would be against Fiverr’s terms of service.

“Users may not offer or accept payments using any method other than placing an order through Fiverr.com.”