Cc-au mailing list

["Jamison Young" <jam AT jamyoung.net>]

Hi CC, au I figured to post this to the mailing list, just so its open the situation...

You can read the attached PDF, and bellow is the email that i sent to APRA May 18th, that Brett Cottle refers to in the attached PDF. Obviously APRA wanted me out of their organization so i could not create a dispute. Not being a member of APRA means that i can't have a dispute. Also not having a works data bass open to public at the time i left, how was i to know that my works were still active?

In relation to the issue of co-writes of your works registered with us, we will inform the relevant co-writers and seek their views of the information you have provided to us. If they are in agreement, we will remove their registrations. If not, we will contact you regarding further action.

I took every precaution to make sure that the CC licenses that I issued were valid. It was a difficult situation for me to discuss the issue with the producers after the CC licenses had gone on the works, as i had already sent this mail bellow. And APRA assured me that things had been taken care of.

I see APRA at fault here and not just the kind of fault that someone makes as a human error, yet the kind that is sure to give the work no value as free and no value as a commercial item. I never asked fox to use my song, fox contacted beatpick and beatpick created the license with fox. I faxed a document to beatpick that allows fox to use my song.

APRA have created problems for my career & beatpick. I wonder if its worth taking legal action against them to remind them that they have an obligation to their members in all circumstances. Are these organizations able to lie and cheat so openly with correspondence like this in place?

I have communicated the issue to http://www.accc.gov.au and the http://www.copyright.org.au The ACCC valid APRA/emi actions. The copyright council want respond. I'm in a bad situation, i want the licences to stay valid. EMI can issue take down notices for copyright content they have an interest on you tube and i like my songs being used in projects like http://uncultured.com/ and i don't want EMI to issue take downs. If i validate their writer share in the work then EMI music have rights over me. My view is that if i remain a member of ASCAP, then EMI might have the possibility to take the content down. 

I really wanted to sort this mess out on my own terms, yet it does not seem possible.

regards,

Jamison

From: Jamison Young <jam AT jamyoung.net>
Date: May 18, 2007 10:33:19 PM GMT+02:00
To: showland AT apra.com.au
Subject: Re: Creative commons and APRA

Hi Sally,

I just want to make some points clear to APRA about the listed co-writters on my material.

I was looking through the APRA site and found this PDF http://www.apra.com.au/writers/forms_and_guidelines/forms_and_guidelines.asp

At no point in the production of my songs did any of the listed co-writters agree to be co- writers.  It also clearly states that whatever you do, "don't give away shares in  your original works". I was told after the production was completed that it was the fair and right for me to give part of my publishing to my producers, by my producers. These people are all long term APRA members and understand what it means to be a co- writer.  They were all signed to recognized publishers at the time of the production. When I started the production on my only produced (self published) works, I was not a member of APRA. I gave up part shares of publishing through the APRA computer system because I was told that in order to get the production released, this had to happen.  If you check the APRA records your going to find out that the tracks were originally titled to me.

I retain the rights to the ownership of all my music as the songwriter of the material through the laws of copy-write, any prior agreement is purely a mistake on my behalf. Could you please adjust the APRA records prior to me opting out, so as to avoid any future conflict. I have no problem with you investigate the issue or discussing any of the information here with any of the "listed" co-writters.

I am sorry for the fuss I have created for APRA with the canceling of my membership, that shall take place at the next board meeting. I hope in the future that artists that use cc license are able to exist as members of APRA. Please let me know ASAP if your able to do as I ask, if I don't get a response I shall call.

Best Regards,

Jamison

although i may have been a little confused about the reality copyright law at the time that i sent the above email, i feel that APRA should have set the records straight and contacted the writers and started a dispute, if one was to happen. I thought the producers were all ok with it all... as the whole recording was making less than 5 dollars a year anyway. i wanted to try something different as APRA was not working out for me.