Prince to Regain Copyright Ownership to Early Recordings
Prince, the musician, not the appropriationist, has just struck a landmark deal that will probably have a major influence on how other musicians and record labels settle the “new” copyright termination and reversion laws that kicked into effect in 2013.
As 2013 loomed, record label executives and artists managers said that they were unsure how copyright terminations and ownership reversions would play out as they expected a precedent-setting court case to decide whether the “work-for-hire” clause in standard recording contracts could successfully be challenged by artists. Works created under work-for-hire contracts are not eligible for copyright reversion. But privately some label executives have also said that in some instances the wiser course might be to negotiate the reversions and retain control of issuing artists’ catalog eligible for copyright terminations.
There’s still no way to tell how this law will impact visual artists, but it’s probably safe to say that it won’t affect them to the same extent as it will musicians.