Dont_know_whats_gonna_happen_with_The_Vault.Might_never_get_to_hear_anything_from_it.UMG_want_their_30_million_back_from_the_estate.My_guess_is_The_Vault_will_be_held_in_so_much_litigation_it_will_be_a_long_time_before_any_of_it_is_released.

EU copyright law won't affect what gets released from Prince's vault

leecaldon said:

Was just reading the below article on the BBC website, regarding EU copyright law. "And there is a "use it or lose it" provision for hitherto unreleased recordings from 50 years ago. If record companies have ageing tracks in the vaults that they have never issued, then they have no comeback if other people get hold of them and release them." UK music industry braced for Brexit http://www.bbc.co.uk/news...s-39418829

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The estate can release them anytime, of course – either directly, or through licensing deals with Warners or Universal or whomever they chose.

The above quote from the article only means that unreleased recordings automatically enter public domain in the EU after 50 years of creation. So an unreleased Prince recording from 1977, for example, would enter public domain in 2027 in the EU, meaning anyone having a copy of that recording would be able to release it and make money off it.

This is the reason behind a lot of Bob Dylan, Beatles, Pink Floyd etc rarities being released recently, usually in very limited quantities, so the record companies owning those recordings could avoid losing their rights to them.

It's important to note that this "use it or lose it" rule in the EU copyright law only applies to the sound recordings themselves, not to publishing rights. (So just because now you have the right to release some unreleased recordings of 'Love Me Do' by The Beatles, for example, does NOT mean that you can claim that you wrote the song. And you'll still have to pay McCartney and the Lennon estate their royalties as composers.)

embmmusic said:

EU copyright law won't affect what gets released from Prince's vault

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It does have the potential to affect what Prince stuff gets released after 2027 or so, as explained above. (Unless EU laws change by then.) Every year a bunch of unreleased Prince recordings reach the age of 50, the estate will be forced to either release them (even if it's only by putting them online for an hour or so, as The Beatles recently did with some of their earliest unreleased stuff) or they'll risk those recordings entering public domain in the EU.

MiceElfAgin said:

embmmusic said:

EU copyright law won't affect what gets released from Prince's vault

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It does have the potential to affect what Prince stuff gets released after 2027 or so, as explained above. (Unless EU laws change by then.) Every year a bunch of unreleased Prince recordings reach the age of 50, the estate will be forced to either release them (even if it's only by putting them online for an hour or so, as The Beatles recently did with some of their earliest unreleased stuff) or they'll risk those recordings entering public domain in the EU.

Would that still affect recordings made and stored in the US?

[Edited 4/24/17 7:39am]

It really depends who wants to release them. Because it is an investment to go into them and remix and sound quality, lord knows if they are even in good condition many have said that he did not keep up with them, so a lot may need work. So if the interest is strictly the loyals it is going to be a hard sell here for a label to take all that on and want to foot the bill unless they can make it commercial.

embmmusic said:

MiceElfAgin said:

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It does have the potential to affect what Prince stuff gets released after 2027 or so, as explained above. (Unless EU laws change by then.) Every year a bunch of unreleased Prince recordings reach the age of 50, the estate will be forced to either release them (even if it's only by putting them online for an hour or so, as The Beatles recently did with some of their earliest unreleased stuff) or they'll risk those recordings entering public domain in the EU.

Would that still affect recordings made and stored in the US?

[Edited 4/24/17 7:39am]

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Yes. Anyone having a copy (off a bootleg, for example, or just downloading an mp3 of it) would be able to release it in the EU, as long as that particular recording is still officially unreleased and was made 50 years ago.

lastdecember said:

It really depends who wants to release them. Because it is an investment to go into them and remix and sound quality, lord knows if they are even in good condition many have said that he did not keep up with them, so a lot may need work. So if the interest is strictly the loyals it is going to be a hard sell here for a label to take all that on and want to foot the bill unless they can make it commercial.

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Of course, preparing a decent quality release costs money. But what you're talking about is irrelevant to the question raised by this post.

Unless laws will change by then, in 2027 you will be able to take your (at that time still unreleased) Prince mp3s of 1977 outtakes, put them up on a website registered within the EU, and take money for them from people who'll be foolish enough to buy such things.

[Edited 4/24/17 8:29am]

So this situation should hopefully encourage the estate to release as much as possible before 2027 onwards.

[Edited 4/25/17 5:10am]

WAKE UP a-holes......BUY the mf'in PR deluxe ......it will make them see they can make money

embmmusic said:

MiceElfAgin said:

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It does have the potential to affect what Prince stuff gets released after 2027 or so, as explained above. (Unless EU laws change by then.) Every year a bunch of unreleased Prince recordings reach the age of 50, the estate will be forced to either release them (even if it's only by putting them online for an hour or so, as The Beatles recently did with some of their earliest unreleased stuff) or they'll risk those recordings entering public domain in the EU.

Would that still affect recordings made and stored in the US?

[Edited 4/24/17 7:39am]

Yes, that's why Bob Dylan and the Beach Boys (as well as the Beatles) drop new releases of whatever they have at the end of every year... and I'm sure other artists will begin doing so more often, if they haven't yet, I just follow those performers. Some of Dylan's have been extremely limited releases (100-1000 copies), very explicitly just to secure the copyright. TThey called three successive European-only releases "The 50th Anniversary Collection" (the first with a "Copyright Extension Collection" tag), but Volume 12 of the Bootleg Series (The Cutting Edge 1965-1966), released in 2015, took care of two years worth of studio recordings, since the limited 18-disc Collector's Edition of the release had every take from the studio sessions for those two years. Last year was the "1966 Live Recordings" which was 36 discs of every recorded show from the year, including fan recordings, just so they can have the copyright on those, too. Again, the full version was not in reach as a purchase for most fans--but what's stunning to me is that all of these are freely shared online--and they are incredible releases, exactly what I would like to see from Prince, but obviously now, not when the 50 year mark is reached. I'd find the money for P, but someone's gotta give me the opportunity.