Correct, and as is obvious New Prince owns New Prince. But at least New Prince is free to do what he wants. To reclaim the name he once had and to prove that he still had it. Or so he thought. I also have a sneaking suspicion that Big Brother Larry somehow convinced to change his name in order to "use Prince for God's good" this time around. I mean, i'm sure Larry was well aware that the name Prince would get more attention in the media than at that point.

"If U don't own the master, the master own U..."

said by: ???

Prince owns the masters and always has.

It is the use of the master recordings that can be restricted by any contractual agreement he entered into.

His Warner Bros agreements appear to have restricted the use of the masters and, despite the name change, it is most unlikely that he could then unilaterally argue with success that any music recorded and released under a different name was not bound by the contractual terms, simply because he had adopted a different name.

Full control of any recordings covered by the terms of the contract with WB would revert to Prince in accordance with that contract or by a variation of the contract.

langebleu said:

Prince owns the masters and always has.

It is the use of the master recordings that can be restricted by any contractual agreement he entered into.

His Warner Bros agreements appear to have restricted the use of the masters and, despite the name change, it is most unlikely that he could then unilaterally argue with success that any music recorded and released under a different name was not bound by the contractual terms, simply because he had adopted a different name.

Full control of any recordings covered by the terms of the contract with WB would revert to Prince in accordance with that contract or by a variation of the contract.

If this is true, how's that P put that music on his old site NPG Music Club?

Does WB own the "final studio versions" only? The complete songs?

So P can release live versions whenever he wants?

Because there were some downloads available there (Controversy, All Critics Love You In Paris, Strange Relationship, Bambi, Vicky Waiting, etc...)

Not to mention the Audioshows, where there are portions of the official released songs.

Or did P to pay WB for this?

I don't understand much of this mess either.

Please, enlight me

Firstly, a recording contract will usually cover the use of the recording. So, an artist might be bound to deliver an album's worth of recordings and the record company will invariably be assigned rights to those recordings (sometimes even when they remain unreleased).

Secondly, the contract will often restrict the artist from releasing other music during the contract period.

So, the contract itself might run for two years, with the artist required to deliver an album's worth of recordings. The record company might retain rights to use of those recordings for a considerable period after, but the artist would then likely be free to record and release other material, including other versions of the same song.

So when the live versions were made available, Prince was free to do so. Additionally, Prince's original publishing deal with Warners had also expired so Warners had no rights to publishing monies on the songs.

Of course, we don't know what the contract(s) said, and how they might have been varied. So it is possible, but by no means clear, that agreements (either original or subsequent) permitted the inclusion of recordings released during the WB days - on the NPGMC Ahdio shows - or perhaps the agreements never addressed releases in this way.

Very good and clear information. Is there a possibility, that Warner's has some rights to Prince's vault material during the contract obligations? That would be a large negative for Prince, as he was very prolific in 1982-1983 period.

langebleu said:

Firstly, a recording contract will usually cover the use of the recording. So, an artist might be bound to deliver an album's worth of recordings and the record company will invariably be assigned rights to those recordings (sometimes even when they remain unreleased).

Secondly, the contract will often restrict the artist from releasing other music during the contract period.

So, the contract itself might run for two years, with the artist required to deliver an album's worth of recordings. The record company might retain rights to use of those recordings for a considerable period after, but the artist would then likely be free to record and release other material, including other versions of the same song.

So when the live versions were made available, Prince was free to do so. Additionally, Prince's original publishing deal with Warners had also expired so Warners had no rights to publishing monies on the songs.

Of course, we don't know what the contract(s) said, and how they might have been varied. So it is possible, but by no means clear, that agreements (either original or subsequent) permitted the inclusion of recordings released during the WB days - on the NPGMC Ahdio shows - or perhaps the agreements never addressed releases in this way.

nelcp777 said:

Very good and clear information. Is there a possibility, that Warner's has some rights to Prince's vault material during the contract obligations? That would be a large negative for Prince, as he was very prolific in 1982-1983 period.

langebleu said:

Firstly, a recording contract will usually cover the use of the recording. So, an artist might be bound to deliver an album's worth of recordings and the record company will invariably be assigned rights to those recordings (sometimes even when they remain unreleased).

Secondly, the contract will often restrict the artist from releasing other music during the contract period.

So, the contract itself might run for two years, with the artist required to deliver an album's worth of recordings. The record company might retain rights to use of those recordings for a considerable period after, but the artist would then likely be free to record and release other material, including other versions of the same song.

So when the live versions were made available, Prince was free to do so. Additionally, Prince's original publishing deal with Warners had also expired so Warners had no rights to publishing monies on the songs.

Of course, we don't know what the contract(s) said, and how they might have been varied. So it is possible, but by no means clear, that agreements (either original or subsequent) permitted the inclusion of recordings released during the WB days - on the NPGMC Ahdio shows - or perhaps the agreements never addressed releases in this way.

No they only have a right to the recorded stuff not what he has written. Also he had his own reording studio which is his as well. They can't get what they don't know.

langebleu said:

Prince owns the masters and always has.

It is the use of the master recordings that can be restricted by any contractual agreement he entered into.

His Warner Bros agreements appear to have restricted the use of the masters and, despite the name change, it is most unlikely that he could then unilaterally argue with success that any music recorded and released under a different name was not bound by the contractual terms, simply because he had adopted a different name.

Full control of any recordings covered by the terms of the contract with WB would revert to Prince in accordance with that contract or by a variation of the contract.

I don't know that he owns the masters. he's always saying that he doesn't so perhaps Time Warner has the master tapes in their possession.

FunkiestOne said:

langebleu said:

Prince owns the masters and always has.

It is the use of the master recordings that can be restricted by any contractual agreement he entered into.

His Warner Bros agreements appear to have restricted the use of the masters and, despite the name change, it is most unlikely that he could then unilaterally argue with success that any music recorded and released under a different name was not bound by the contractual terms, simply because he had adopted a different name.

Full control of any recordings covered by the terms of the contract with WB would revert to Prince in accordance with that contract or by a variation of the contract.

I don't know that he owns the masters. he's always saying that he doesn't so perhaps Time Warner has the master tapes in their possession.

Legally he owns them - even if he doesn't have physical possession of them (although I understood that he does). I think the expression, 'not owning your masters' is simply shorthand for saying, I don't have the right to do what I want with my own music.