Get It In Writing!

5/1/2008

I had hoped to begin this blog by providing background on how the award-winning highway safety video Marker Memories Part 1: A Journey to Understanding came to be and also give background on the interviews shown in the video. But first I must address false claims by the singer who performed my song "A Long, Long Road to Say Goodbye."

I met the singer after I wrote the song's lyrics and composed its melody. She said she had been a singer for 30 years. She gave me a CD she compiled and I was impressed with two of her songs so I decided to offer her the opportunity to sing my song on the video.

It took quite some time for her to comprehend the song's simple melody. Finally, one night she seemed to get it and we went to a studio to record it (I paid the studio fees). Some people say it wasn't the best performance she could have offered, but she waited until the night before the videographer's deadline and after three hours we had no more time to redo it.

There was even a concern that including the song would disrupt the chosen background music, but I insisted.

Instead of being grateful for being able to perform on this video, the singer began claiming she composed the song's melody and denigrated my efforts writing "...all you did was the poem." Such gratitude! Especially after the opportunity she was given. But she steadfastly insists the melody was hers, even though she and I had not yet met when I wrote the song!

Because this was a volunteer project (more on this in a later post), there were no contracts or written agreements. I never expected her to try to position herself as some sort of professional singing diva, but she has. She even posted the song portion of the video separately from the video's full version, without my permission. She's also now claiming her occupation is as a "singer/songwriter."

Funny in that all the time we worked together she never once mentioned songs she's written. She's also claiming a copyright for authoring the song and for the music. As above, she admitted I wrote the lyrics.

The song was performed acapella, thus there is no music. Granted, the copyright office sometimes uses the term "music" instead of "melody" but what she's claiming is that "she composed the melody." Interesting that "her" version is what I tape recorded before we met. Hmmm.

And here is what the copyright office says about ownership: "Your work is under copyright protection the moment it is created and fixed in a tangible form..." "Copyright exists from the moment the work is created."

As mentioned, I wrote the song and composed the melody in 2006 yet she claims a copyright for "music" dated July 2007, the month after the video premiered. It's obvious that while the video was undergoing editing that she pushed forward on her false copyright application. This shows how glory grabbing she is. While the rest of us were promoting the video, she was promoting herself.

Please do not use her for your projects. You're likely to regret it as I have.

The lesson here? If you are involved in a similar project, put everyone's rights and responsibilities in writing. That way, even if you are trying to help promote a "friend", you won't get burned as I did.

If you want to hear the song, please get its full effect by viewing the entire video.

To view the video, click this link:



Thank you.