should i be flattered?,.....or pissed?

[werd2jah]

i could care less that i was sampled,....made my year! thats not the problem, the prob is they ignored me once i contacted em, esp now since in my letter/email/messages i made it clear i didnt want any money, jus wanted to hear the tunes

trust me if yu want vocals link mi, i dont charge unless the tune starts makin money bu thats eclusive vocals and all that has collab wit me knows how it goes

either way those vocals thye sampled screams "bootleg" im sure since it was poor quality and PLENTY of people d/l an sampled em already

and the others that sampled me wont get mentioned cause they had the courtesy of notifyin me,

somethin jus seems shady about samplin someone, includin em on ah album and tryin to keep it hush hush from the artist they sampled. i get on average 5 tunes a day from people/friends who are eager to let me hear theyre shtuff, includin tunes without my vocals what so ever, so why are they being back-handed?


im the furthest thing from a prik who doesnt share what i'd like to think is talent,..pm me now about a collab an see how long it takes b4 i think of money, im in this for the love and art, but i dont like being taken advantage of. im startin to understand now why some people are assholes about their shit, there is a fine line between flattery and being crooked

[phobang]

If you post it online, you have no right anymore. Once it's out there, you can't take it back. I would call you up or email, but I can see why they wouldn't bother just the same. They might not even remember they got it there ya know... maybe just had your name on a clip

[fooishbar]

If you post it online, you have no right anymore. Once it's out there, you can't take it back.

in practice, maybe. legally, no.

[urbanite]

If you post it online, you have no right anymore. Once it's out there, you can't take it back. I would call you up or email, but I can see why they wouldn't bother just the same. They might not even remember they got it there ya know... maybe just had your name on a clip

I'm quite sure that's wrong... Even if you posted it up online depending on the license agreement with the people you post it up with, you should retain full copyrights to the work you've posted up, even if it is for free. Normally a place like Myspace or Virb or whatever just asks that you allow them to stream the files you provide...

So if someone releases a CD with you on it, without having signed any contracts or license agreements with you, you're are allowed to take them to court and ask for damages to be paid or the CD revoked... even if you posted it up online... cuz they are essentially pirating... Of course that would take cash and time...

Clearly I am not a lawyer, but this is my understanding of the copyright laws and how they work...

Strikingly all three releases mentioned are from the same label... and some of the CDs seem to have other artists on them, who I doubt they've managed to make a deal with... Lil Wayne???

[juliun_c90]

If you post it online, you have no right anymore. Once it's out there, you can't take it back.

common misconception about the internet #1.

people can and have successfully prosecuted under copyright law and intellectual property rights.

[werd2jah]

If you post it online, you have no right anymore. Once it's out there, you can't take it back. I would call you up or email, but I can see why they wouldn't bother just the same. They might not even remember they got it there ya know... maybe just had your name on a clip

I'm quite sure that's wrong... Even if you posted it up online depending on the license agreement with the people you post it up with, you should retain full copyrights to the work you've posted up, even if it is for free. Normally a place like Myspace or Virb or whatever just asks that you allow them to stream the files you provide...

So if someone releases a CD with you on it, without having signed any contracts or license agreements with you, you're are allowed to take them to court and ask for damages to be paid or the CD revoked... even if you posted it up online... cuz they are essentially pirating... Of course that would take cash and time...

Clearly I am not a lawyer, but this is my understanding of the copyright laws and how they work...

Strikingly all three releases mentioned are from the same label... and some of the CDs seem to have other artists on them, who I doubt they've managed to make a deal with... Lil Wayne???

yea thats why i am thinking they may have been reported already, i already contacted amazon.com to remove them from their site, hopefully i will get some werd back on it soon

[Shift Recordings]

if they were posted for free....then you got nothin at all you can really do here

if you put em up for free though, you had to atleast consider that someone somewhere would get ahold of them and prolly use them...

imho...charge money next time/only give vox to certain people and definitely should retain rites to all of your original material if you dont want people to capitolize off of your generosity

Them being posted free of charge does not make him lose his rights to ownership and royalties from sales!

He still owns them and has a right to get his small pittance!

[gravious]

Have you heard the tracks? Is it actually you on them?

Its worth checking that out before going in all-guns-blazing.

It could just be someone else using the same name, and who doesn't frequent the internet.

Just a thought !


And for the record, i'd be mostly pissed (but a little flattered). And its not a money thing, its just a stand against people taking the piss.

[gravious]

if they were posted for free....then you got nothin at all you can really do here

if you put em up for free though, you had to atleast consider that someone somewhere would get ahold of them and prolly use them...

imho...charge money next time/only give vox to certain people and definitely should retain rites to all of your original material if you dont want people to capitolize off of your generosity

Them being posted free of charge does not make him lose his rights to ownership and royalties from sales!

He still owns them and has a right to get his small pittance!

Yes!^


EG> If you lent your bike to a friend, you would expect him to ride it, but you wouldn't expect him to sell it!

[__________]

or should i jus be flattered an "charge it to the game"

yes

mate i'd take it as a compliment. you put the vox up for free, people are bound to take them and put them in a tune. trying to sell that tune is a shitty thing to do, but i doubt they'll make more than £50 off those cds IF they're lucky.

i think your pride/integrity is worth more than the £20 you might make by chasing these clowns up

definately keep emailing them though. send them some more acapellas. be friendly. can't do any more harm.

who hasn't sampled shit without permission? i have sympathy for them

[pure]

deep

[werd2jah]

or should i jus be flattered an "charge it to the game"

yes

mate i'd take it as a compliment. you put the vox up for free, people are bound to take them and put them in a tune. trying to sell that tune is a shitty thing to do, but i doubt they'll make more than £50 off those cds IF they're lucky.

i think your pride/integrity is worth more than the £20 you might make by chasing these clowns up

definately keep emailing them though. send them some more acapellas. be friendly. can't do any more harm.

who hasn't sampled shit without permission? i have sympathy for them

^ this

someone who gets me

wish there were more people like yu in da musik scene, i actually did ask them if they wanted some more/better quality vocals, which again is a leading factor as to why i posted this thread, after all dat friendlyness they still went along ignorin me, but im sure its their loss

[MARCHMELLOW]

i've had bootlegs releases with mad uncleared samples on, but my name or the original artists name was definitly NOT mentioned any where...thats how a bootleg works...

if they've used YOUR acapella, and put YOUR name on the sleeve, its not a 'cheeky' little sample, its blaitent robbery, they should have atleast contacted you to ask, as you said, you wouldn't have had a problem if they'd asked...

you have listened to the tracks to make sure they are you, and are the acapella's you put up for free on the net right??

or is this whole thread a sneaky little way of promoting these albums that you do secretly know about eh?? sorry been watching to many spy/conspiracy films recently

[werd2jah]

i've had bootlegs releases with mad uncleared samples on, but my name or the original artists name was definitly NOT mentioned any where...thats how a bootleg works...

if they've used YOUR acapella, and put YOUR name on the sleeve, its not a 'cheeky' little sample, its blaitent robbery, they should have atleast contacted you to ask, as you said, you wouldn't have had a problem if they'd asked...

you have listened to the tracks to make sure they are you, and are the acapella's you put up for free on the net right??

or is this whole thread a sneaky little way of promoting these albums that you do secretly know about eh?? sorry been watching to many spy/conspiracy films recently

haha, trust me i am not supportin em at all, i think they grabbed some old vocals from my soundclick.com profile, and i have no idea what the songs sound like at all, which is another main factor as to why im abit perturbed, i'd like to hear the tunes cause the last thing i need is some songs floatin around with some other artist talkin bout "bitch this, hoe that, money, money, car, clothes, hoes, drugs,.... werd2jah!"

and chances are their tunes is something along them lines judgin from the song titles and other artists they have "collabs" with on these albums

and if the vocals aren't me i really am gonna be pissed cause i really dont need no imposter slingin dirt on my name im sure "werd2jah" cannot be a common stage name

i know this cause anytime i sign up for aol or myspace or forums or anything it never makes me change it, which leads me to think no one else has put the words werd the number 2 and jah together

although i have seen some "werd"(s) out there

[jred]

l que n i have got a badboy tune on the go featuring your vox il send you a progress report link soon and you can give us your 10cents on it .

id be PISSED

[werd2jah]

l que n i have got a badboy tune on the go featuring your vox il send you a progress report link soon and you can give us your 10cents on it .

id be PISSED

cheers man, lookin forward to it

[freqone]

id be a bit pissed if i was you but then again you kinda of asked for it, but on the up side its getting you promotion at the same time

Asked for it?? explain?

[steshine]

Basically, i know it's shit, but if you haven't copyrighted the vocals they used before they used them, you have very little proof that they're yours and are entitled to absolutely nothing
best way to copyright stuff, burn the original recordings to cd put it in an envelope along with a lyric sheet, sign the seal of the envelope and get a witness to do the same, send it to yourself recorded and don't open it.
In short, you probably should be pissed and not put your vocals on a download website.

[mungoshifi]

Basically, i know it's shit, but if you haven't copyrighted the vocals they used before they used them, you have very little proof that they're yours and are entitled to absolutely nothing

one thing is that if they are on your computer with an earliest date attached to the file, that is also proof, but doesnt matter, they do not have the copyright which does matter. they would have to sign saying they do before they can get vinyl pressed not sure for cds. its true there is not likely to be any money in it, but its not the point, you are free to put vox on the internet for people to hear, its a shame they didnt get in touch cos im sure you would have been happy to revoice them even for the tunes. it is rude that they dont respond to your emails, but they wont get far working like that. and its also true that their beats are shite and you wouldnt have chosen any association to them either. you should push for 50/50 on the publishing on the tunes, (if they are unregistered you can even register them yourself) you should also be entitled to 50/50 on the artist profit on the tracks considering you had no advance (or even advanced warning about this) but it is also true that not about money and it will possibly be goods promotion, its just a shame they are dicks about it,
all the best

[anneka]

Hey,

I'm a vocalist too and have been in similar situations.

I reckon you should not allow downloads but perhaps write about about being up for collaborations. Then they can contact you and ask you about it. I think that's the right way to go about it personally. I too have had people saying 'I like your voice...just sampled it'. Of course it's really flattering that someone likes something you do but I think it's polite to ask first. And yeah, if you do like their work and would be up for a collaboration, that way you'd be able to give them a better quality file and make you both even more pleased with the final tune.

As for the money thing, if someone's making money using your vocals without your permission that's really unfair, and illegal as mentioned before in these posts.

So far I've not been paid a penny for vocals, but (as also said on this thread) it can be good promotion. However, it should still be the vocalist's choice as to who uses their vocals.