Sort of music related legal advice sought.

[john_the_bass]

Hello chaps and chappettes, wanted to pick your brains if you would be so kind as to humour me.

Up until the beginning of Feb, I was playing bass in a band in addition to my regular covers band. The promotional media was put together very quickly and in a very professional way and within a couple of weeks we had a lot of bookings, which was very nice.

There's a long story which isn't relevant here, but the band essentially became a victim of its own success and combined with the biggest load of BS and grasped excuses, I was asked to leave.

This was initially quite disappointing but as I learn a few things about the personalities of those I have left behind I couldn't give a toss and am probably well out of it.

As the band set up, a video was made, promo shots were taken and some recordings done. Do I have a legitimate objection to promo material (my bass playing on the recording, my image in stills and video) continuing to be used and if I do and request for it to be taken down as it is used without my permission, am able to enforce a request to remove it. And if anybody's wondering, yes I am doing it just to be difficult. I was properly upset at the news I was no longer required but am pretty well over it now.

Cheers

Edited March 21, 2013 by john_the_bass

[icastle]

I don't mean this to sound harsh, but the band will probably already be trying to update their promo materials to remove you from it and include your replacement.

My gut reaction is that there is little point in pushing this as it's not going to make it happen any faster.

[Earbrass]

Sounds about right. I'm no lawyer, but even if you did have a legal right to stop them using your image (and to be honest I think that's unlikely, unless you all signed legally binding contracts to that effect before the pictures were taken), it would cost you a small fortune in legal fees to enforce, and, if they refused to roll over, by the time the case came to court the band would have folded anyway. Just forget it and move on.

In my experience, when ordinary people (no offence - I mean as opposed to big business etc) turn to the law to get these kinds of disputes settled, the only winners are the lawyers.

Edited March 21, 2013 by Earbrass

[john_the_bass]

This isn't a vanity thing, I said I wasn't happy for them to use any materials I was featured and asked for it to be removed. I was told that it would be done but only when funds allowed. That's not my problem and I want the promo taken down. It's of little interest to me whether they're trying to replace it as quickly as possible.

On whether to push it to be done or not, I'll judge that but I want to know if I can actually demand for the promo to be taken down and enforce it if I do. Then I can make my decision

[flyfisher]

If you're really considering going legal then you should seek real legal advice rather than some chit-chat on an internet forum. Presumably, you're asking here because you don't want to spend money on a real lawyer?

FWIW, you can demand anything you want but the legal strength of such a demand is likely to depend on what, if any, contractual conditions were put in place to cover band-related IPR. If, as I suspect, there are no contractual agreements in place then any legal action will get messy (another word for expensive) because you'll end up relying on opinions.

One opinion might be that as you were (presumably) very happy to lend your talents to a band video while you were in the band then it's a bit unreasonable to seek to harm the band now that you're no longer part of it. It's difficult to see how you could be personally harmed by appearing in this promo video (unless your playing was excrutiatingly bad, for example) so your intentions can only be to harm the band you are now no longer a part of. Given that frivolous or vexatious litigation is generally frowned upon by courts, you may find that any legal action fails, with costs awarded against you.

There you go. Free legal advice - worth every penny.

[Roger2611]

Just coming at it from a slightly different angle, if they do use any images of you and then go on to make it big you do have the kudos of being able to show you were part of a band that went on to be successful (of course you chose to leave them possibly after you revealed a fling with the singers sister and mum ) but seriously how many musicians that were part of one successful band albeit briefly go on to play in other successful bands?

As you no longer wish to be part of that band their using your image in anyway could work to your future advantage

[Grangur]

If the other band's use of your image is damaging your career and earnings or earning pottential then you can sue for damages, but you need to be able to prove this using offers of work and letters of retraction etc.

If there's no damage that you can prove, then you don't have a leg to stand on, cos if you've no damage then there's no value to the situation.

Idea No.2 You could possibly try for a restraining order, but I would expect you'd need to go to court and demonstrate how seeing the promo images or hearing the audio recordings are turning you into a gibbering wreck... errhm no, I doubt that would come off either.

OK, idea No.3: if the band is doing well on the use of your images and promos, then you can go after them for a share of the earnings that is as a result of you aiding to bring in the work and earnings. If you've a good cult following in the M1 J21 area then you could clean up.

Otherwise... get a new band, nick all the good gigs and piss them off in the good old fashioned way.

[lowdown]

Of course you could ask them nicely not to use the promo[s]
and possibly have a mutual time limit for use until their new promo[s] is/are ready.
If any [unlikely] legal action went on at some point, at least you tried the civil, sensible and reasonable way first.

As you said that you don't give a toss - Just move on anyway, it ain't worth the hassle.



Garry

[Mr. Foxen]

Wait until they are successful, then make your move.

[icastle]

[quote name='john_the_bass' timestamp='1363888033' post='2019009']
And if anybody's wondering, yes I am doing it just to be difficult.
[/quote]

In which case, I very much doubt that we'll give you the answer that you want to hear.

[LukeFRC]

my old band went on to release a load of stuff two years after I had left. I was asked what I felt I had a credit on- i said I didn't really care anymore and if they thoguht I should be credited on stuff (they knew what I had done) then do it, if not leave me alone. They came back and their manager really wanted to know - so I listed stuff - (baring in mind while in the band we had said all credits would be split equally) including vocal lines and the major melody - they got a bit grumpy at that and argumentative. After a while I just shrugged and walked away, the songs were 5 years old after all. No idea if I ever got credited. The moral is- unless there is lots of money tieds up- don't waste your time on an old band.

Oddly even though they claimed it was the new bass player all the time there are a few tracks on iTunes/spotify with my playing on it. I know this cos on one of them I never thoguht anyone outside the band would hear it and decided to goof around and do a paul simon/graceland influenced mess