John Sayers' Recording Studio Design Forum Archive

hi there!

i've recently completed a small studio in the basement of my house, and i intend to try to at least recoup my investments over the next few years by charging for usage of my studio.. i've got a few verbal agreements with some folks to record, but was wondering how folks here might handle the legal side of things.. i'd like to ultimately have a business registered to protect me and the rest of my personal assets, but in the mean time, is there a reference or sample contract somewhere that is recommended to read to help with developing something to cover the various legal issues involved with recording? i'm just basically looking for indemnification from copyright issues, stating who owns what, outlining costs and payment schedules and other various CYA topics..

any input would be greatly appreciated! once i'm finished with the trim work and some wiring, i'll take some pictures and post them - they seem to be popular here

I'm no expert, but when you say a "registered business" you better be careful. If you live in a residential area some zoning laws may prohibit the type of "business" you are attempting to have. Most likely people will be coming and going sometimes at LATE hours of the night, and if the word gets around about what you're doing, and the neighbors complain.... You will have to check with your city zoning comission to be sure.

As far as copyright etc, you can go to the Library of Congress online and print up sample copyright forms. I would also recommend the book: "Everything You'd Better Know About The Record Industry" by Kashif. It's EXCELLENT to find out about copyrights, all the types of Royalties you need to be aware of, Sample contracts that are printable, and other great stuff.

Hope this helps
Stan

There's also another book that we used in college. I think it's the 4th edition now, maybe higher. It's called: "This Business of Music"

The book is about 3" thick, but has the complete laws on Copyright, as well as contracts. Worth checking out.

I think by "registered to protect me and my personal assets," perhaps bdodds meant "incorporating."

When my wife had her own business, an attorney once told us that incorporating to protect one's assets is a myth -- what most people need is more insurance. Basically, don't try to hide from liability (because it doesn't work) -- instead, be prepared and protected.

That being said, I totally agree with all the replies so far.

Perhaps becoming a member of a professional association would help. Here's one:

• The Society of Professional Audio Recording Services
  • SPARS members include audio recording and mastering facilities in the United States and Canada, manufacturers, engineers, and multimedia specialists. From single-operator studios to large multiroom facilities, our members represent the broadest range in the industry. If your business involves music recording, audio for video, film, industrial or corporate media, advertising, computers, interactive games, mastering, forensic audio, studio design, equipment manufacturing, internet audio, education, or any allied industry, SPARS connects for you. SPARS' work is carried on by sister organizations in England, Japan, France and Spain.

One of the things featured on the SPARS Web site is an advertisement from an insurance program exclusively designed for recording studios.

In my opinion, being responsibly insured and a member of an industry association distinguishes the professionals from the hobbyists.

Hope that helps.

--Keith

BTW, my wife ran a business for 3½ years until fairly recently. She (we) too belonged to a professional association. One of the benefits of membership was that we could purchase form designs, including service contracts that were developed with the help of an attorney. I'm not sure whether SPARS offers that exactly, but certainly SPARS (or another organization) would give you networking opportunities with fellow studio owners who have blazed such trails before.

There... I finally got around to addressing the actual question that was asked!

--Keith

Ok, I know I'm late on this, but I want to put my 20 cents in anyway...

as a lawyer (in Australia), I could help with this, but its ironic that someone mentioned insurance as it would be well outside the boundaries of my professional indemnity insurance to advise Americans on legal issues!

I don't know if things are different in America, but here I would recommend having a simple contract setting out the terms on which the recording services are to be provided, terms of payment, acknowledgments/indemnities that no copyright is being infringed, other terms relating to conduct and behaviour and rights of termination. This contract should be signed before work commences. After the work is finished an invoice should be rendered to ensure that there is an account that can be sued on if the bastard runs without paying the bill!

As far as protecting yourself is concerned, I agree that both insurance and the incorporation of a company might provide differing levels of protection. Insurance won't cover everything, and running the business through a company can hopefully ensure that if everything goes wrong, only the business goes down and not you (and your house and spouse) go down with it.

At least, that's what I would say if you were an Australian!

Cheers

Classic six year later answer here. What you should have in terms of coverage is a liability policy, in case a client gets hurt or your gear catches fire, etc and burns down your house. Coverage similar to a small business owners "BOP" plan. Also you should insure your equipment if you feel there is enough of it to warrant the expense. Coverage for that usually runs $100/yr per $10, 000 of gear. Being this is in your home you might inquire whether your insurer has a home office policy as I am sure many an accountant, lawyer, consultant etc work from home and have clients visit there. The gear policy would best be pursued through an insurer that specializes in instruments/music gear as most homeowners policies won't cover excessive amounts of that. In so far as copyright goes, unless you are WRITING and producing music, and exploiting it through a music library or commercials or TV and film placements, or pitching songs to publishers, you have no concern. If someone hires you to record their band, by virtue of it being a "work for hire" you are not entitled to any of the copyright , publishers or writers share of royalty, or ownership share of the master, based on you being remunerated by the client. If however you are collborating with an act, or intend to do so, and are donating your studio time, or are hired as a "Producer" rather than an engineer things can be a little bit different, and you may want to ask for certain deal points which are readily available to be read through a google search, or simply agreeing between parties that you are a cowriter. As in most things business this should be done before the work begins, not after. Given the likely scale of the work you will have access to or aspire toward, and the state of the music industry, the inability to track the meager record sales of local bands and independent artists, its IMO best to operate from the perspective of being an Engineer and Studio Owner until you have built up a reputation that attracts an appropriate client, ie an artist on a record label.