OMG! Someone is selling mp3s of my Father's recordings online! HELP!

Have you tried contacting the RIAA?

Searching for your father's music, I got a bit of a surprise. All this time, I thought you were a guy. I think it's the Luke avatar.

Sorry, I know this doesn't help you any.

It's too bad Michael Reuben hasn't been here since May, as I believe he is a lawyer specializing in copyright issues. You'll probably need to at least consult one to see your options. I've seen two of your dad's songs at YouTube. The uploaders aren't making any money, but I think you might have a shot at getting them pulled if you email YT. Maybe not, though, because I saw Joe Jones' kid complaining about somebody uploading "You Talk Too Much" years ago, and the video remains.

Is it possible your dad's stuff is in the public domain in the U.K. ? I think that their copyright period is shorter than the U. S. 's.

There's also the Harry Fox agency - http://www.harryfox.com/index.jsp

You realize that iTunes is also selling them?
http://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/dick-roman/id311703724


Unfortunately, with modern equipment and lack of law enforcement and lack of sound judgment, anyone can do this type of stuff and buy music to make copies - http://rateyourmusic.com/artist/dick_roman


Years back (maybe 7) I got off the train in Newark, NJ to catch a taxi to visit someone who lived about 15 miles away. While waiting for the taxi, there were vendor stands outside the Amtrak station selling music and movies that were obviously not original and not legit. I was with someone who bought a movie (and weeks later admitted I was right and played a portion of it which was obviously filmed in a theater) and the best customers hanging around the vendor stands and asking when movies were coming out were two uniformed on duty members of the Newark Police Department. It was obvious they were asking about illegal copies for their own consumption (and they bought movies and music when I was present) as they were happy to have something before its official release.

There's plenty of info and sites to get more -


http://www.apple.com/contact/


http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10355448-93.html


http://www.musicianwages.com/the-working-musician/recording-releasing-performing-cover-songs/

http://allindstrom.com/2011/03/article-does-itunes-sell-or-license-music-do-the-labels-owe-more-royalties/

It appears that your dad's songs are being licensed by a distribution company called The Orchard, which sub-licenses music rights for digital and CD sales from the major record companies. Orchard's specialty is getting artists like your dad back into the general market when the people who actually own the recordings don't consider them to be worthy enough to market on their own. The company also appears to have a subsidiary called Master Classics Records, which distributes the music on CD. Its web site is http://www.theorchard.com/. I just checked its list of Dick Roman-licensed music, and it matches the ones that you've been seeing all over the net.

For whatever it's worth, I'm pretty sure that the actual owner of the recordings is Universal Music Group. Since your dad recorded for MGM Records, the chances are very good that the ownership rights were sold to Polygram a few decades ago, along with the recordings of other MGM artists like Hank Williams. All of that material was most likely included when Polygram sold its music business to the Universal Music Group about ten or fifteen years ago. UMG's now located in Santa Monica, California.

Good luck. I hope someone at The Orchard or UMG can help you.

I'm glad UMG got back to you, and I'm really sorry to hear your info about The Orchard. At the moment, they appear to be the only (supposedly) legal way to get recordings of artists like your father.

Just curious. Do you know if they're going to give you any further royalty info on your dad's catalogue? When you also factor in the stuff that he did with Dot Records, it appears that everything he recorded now belongs to UMG, so -- by my estimation -- they owe you an accounting for about the last 50 years worth of sales activity.

It'd be interesting to know as well about the condition of the master tapes. In my admittedly limited experience with them, I know that UMG takes pretty good care of its masters, but time still manages leave its mark.

Anyway, good luck. I'm rooting for you.

Cool stuff, keep us posted with this! And good luck!

UMG, Itunes, HFA, alleged collusional activities

Be wary of the paths you cross! All niceties are not nice! Helpful and helpfulness can be deceptive stall tactics. Assistance from the enemy can make giving information a bane about your neck. Master Classics Records is an arm of The Orchard and UMG. Masterworks can only be obtained from master holders (UMG). Your father's music should not be in the public domain unless it was never renewed after twenty eight years upon its release. The unauthorized licensing of past songs are being mitigated by the majors UMG, Warner Music Group (WMG), Sony Music Entertainment and EMI (UK & US). They are making deals with ad-supported companies, without compensating the artist and songwriters of the songs they are using. Itunes, The Orchard, IODA, Tunecore, Rightsflow, Limelight, Music Reports, Sound Exchange, Youtube, Facebook, MySpace, Google Music or Android Market and various other aggregating entities have circled the wagons against downloaders on the Internet who are downloading songs without authority or permission, yet, because these "majors" are the ones who allowed access to the masters in their care, are responsible for allowing these downloaders the opportunity use your works in this manner, without "synchronization" licensing or they go through various licensing agencies, created for the purpose of dealing with the "majors", without having to deal with the songwriter(s) or the artist(s) who performed the song(s). This entire matter is happening to thousands of unwitting and unknowing songwriters, artists and musicians. Contacting someone concerning it is akin to pulling teeth that need not be pulled, hard and painful. I have been trying to settle my differences with these entities for a number of years and their stubborness and determination to prevent me from collecting licensing revenue through my publisher entity is steadfast and frustratingly consistent. When trying to get information, I am referred to as a "third party", unable to persuade these entities of my inherent rights to not only domestic revenue, yet, foreign revenue, as well. It is a day to day task that takes me 6 to 8 hours of communication that allows me to squeeze out whatever information I can get to further my cause of ownership and claimant and when I ask them for physical documentation proving that one of their member claimants do in fact have the right to claim, I have yet, to receive any documentation, from the requested nor the co-publisher or any collective. Don't give in, but find out whether your father signed a "work for hire" agreement or an agreement giving his publisher at the time of release rights to administer and not as an employee writing songs for the publisher benefit. This is where matters get murky and read the Bob Marley ruling and you may get a better understanding of what happened to your father's works. Good luck! Son of Robert Higginbotham/Tommy Tucker writer of the classic blues song "Hi Heel Sneakers".

I attempted to make that previous post readable........



Be wary of the paths you cross! All niceties are not nice! Helpful and helpfulness can be deceptive stall tactics. Assistance from the enemy can make giving information a bane about your neck. Master Classics Records is an arm of The Orchard and UMG. 

Masterworks can only be obtained from master holders (UMG). Your father's music should not be in the public domain unless it was never renewed after twenty eight years upon its release. The unauthorized licensing of past songs are being mitigated by the majors UMG, Warner Music Group (WMG), Sony Music Entertainment and EMI (UK & US). 

They are making deals with ad-supported companies, without compensating the artist and songwriters of the songs they are using. Itunes, The Orchard, IODA, Tunecore, Rightsflow, Limelight, Music Reports, Sound Exchange, Youtube, Facebook, MySpace, Google Music or Android Market and various other aggregating entities have circled the wagons against downloaders on the Internet who are downloading songs without authority or permission.

 Yet because these "majors" are the ones who allowed access to the masters in their care, are responsible for allowing these downloaders the opportunity use your works in this manner, without "synchronization" licensing or they go through various licensing agencies, created for the purpose of dealing with the "majors", without having to deal with the songwriter(s) or the artist(s) who performed the song(s). 

This entire matter is happening to thousands of unwitting and unknowing songwriters, artists and musicians. Contacting someone concerning it is akin to pulling teeth that need not be pulled, hard and painful. 

I have been trying to settle my differences with these entities for a number of years and their stubborness and determination to prevent me from collecting licensing revenue through my publisher entity is steadfast and frustratingly consistent. 

When trying to get information, I am referred to as a "third party", unable to persuade these entities of my inherent rights to not only domestic revenue, yet, foreign revenue, as well. It is a day to day task that takes me 6 to 8 hours of communication that allows me to squeeze out whatever information I can get to further my cause of ownership and claimant and when I ask them for physical documentation proving that one of their member claimants do in fact have the right to claim.
 I have yet, to receive any documentation, from the requested nor the co-publisher or any collective. Don't give in, but find out whether your father signed a "work for hire" agreement or an agreement giving his publisher at the time of release rights to administer and not as an employee writing songs for the publisher benefit. 

This is where matters get murky and read the Bob Marley ruling and you may get a better understanding of what happened to your father's works. Good luck! Son of Robert Higginbotham/Tommy Tucker writer of the classic blues song "Hi Heel Sneakers".