Legal question: Old song, new lyrics

This topic has 2 voices, contains 2 replies, and was last updated by Mr. Gabe 165 days ago.

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December 8, 2011 at 7:22 am #6926
Mr. Gabe	<p>Hi. I’m a children’s entertainer working to finish my first CD. One of the songs I’m including is a new version of the old Danny and the Juniors chestnut "At the Hop." My version has a new title, "At the Pool," and an entirely new set of lyrics. The publisher agreed to the lyric change but told me it planned to retain "the full 100% publishing share/credit to this song." Hmm … I thought I would be copyrighting and publishing the new lyrics. Does anyone here have any expertise/experience in this area and could tell me whether the publisher is right or is trying to take me for a ride?<br /> Thanks! </p>
December 8, 2011 at 2:51 pm #8121
alanbrown	Hi. This is a complex issue. Essentially the publisher is absolutely within his rights. What you are doing comes under the area of a ‘derivation’ of the original work. Permission to change the lyric does NOT give you any rights. You really need to go to the ASCAP website for more information on this. An entirely different situation is one where one composer gets permission from another one via their publisher to change a song lyric and then share the royalties of the work. The most obvious example is of course My Way which was a French song with French lyrics but Paul Anka got permission to change the lyric and publish the work as a NEW SONG, not a dirvitive. The one part of a song that cannot be copyrighted is its title. That is where my knowledge on these things is at its limit but I will share one little insight which will give you an idea how serious to take the subject of copyright:- “The Devil may well have all the best tunes, but you can be sure God owns the publishing!”
December 8, 2011 at 4:44 pm #8124
Mr. Gabe	Thanks, Alan. That’s excellent information, even if doesn’t exactly come out in my favor. As for that old adage, I’d heard it before, but it certainly bears keeping in mind! All the best, Gabe