Copyright of Bossa Dorado

klaatu

I wasn't sure where to post this, so here it is in Recording.

My band is wrapping up its first CD and belatedly starting to deal with copyright issues. One of our songs in Bossa Dorado. I have had no luck finding out who the publisher is. Does anyone know? Someone who has recorded this must have gone through this process.

The song isn't even listed in the CMRRA data base (Canadian) or Harry Fox Agency (US). ASCAP lists it under "Patrick Schmitt," presumably Dorado's legal name, but with no publisher listed. I've tried to Google "Bossa Dorado publisher," to no avail.

frater

Not really sure but I've heard all rights for Dorado's compositions have been secured years ago by these two guys.

Lucky you they don't know what greed is!

MichaelHorowitz

You'll probably have to contact Dorado's manager: <!-- e --><a href="mailto:bernard.spaeth@free.fr">bernard.spaeth@free.fr</a><!-- e -->

However, I know many people have tried to gain rights to record or print Dorado's songs. His manager asks for very, very large fees. so beware...


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klaatu

Thanks, Michael, there's no way I would have turned up that information on my own.

kungfumonk007

How did this turn out - did you figure it out? Now I need this info.

Jazzaferri

It took us two months to get licence for For Sephora

wim

Welp, guess you guys had better leave it off the album. We should all probably stop calling Bossa Dorado in jams too, wouldn't want to get in trouble with the authorities. Such a shame. Come to think of it, better avoid playing all of those gypsy bossas, you know, just to be on the safe side..

klaatu

We were able to sort things out eventually, although it took some effort. We have two agencies in Canada that distribute mechanical licenses for songs. I'm not sure of the exact distinction, but it appears that if the song is by a US or Canadian composer you go to CMRRA, otherwise you use SODRAC. SODRAC lists Bossa Dorado as catalog # 83698, author is one Patrick Dorado, and it shows the publisher as STERNTALER MUSIKVERLAG GMBH. We simply paid a standard licensing fee.

If you're in the US, Harry Fox Agency is the primary one. They list a Bossa Dorado but author is shown as ROBERT ZHENMING ROSA. I have no idea who or what that is. It can be a challenge to do a proper search. Good luck.

AndrewUlle

klaatu wrote: »

If you're in the US, Harry Fox Agency is the primary one. They list a Bossa Dorado but author is shown as ROBERT ZHENMING ROSA. I have no idea who or what that is.

Whoever or whatever Robert Zhenming ROSA is, they hold rights to about 30 tunes, most of which - if not all - appear to be old jazz standards.

https://sigried.sacem.fr/oeuvres/oeuvre/rechercheOeuvre.do?titre=&tiers=Robert+Zhenming+ROSA&searchoption=default&ftad=true&page=1

Russell Letson

The SACEM list of Rosa holdings is interesting, since, say, the Fields-McHugh "I Can't Give You Anything but Love" is an ASCAP item in the US. And he/it is also listed as "Compositeur-Auteur" of "Sheik of Araby," which as a 1921 composition ought to be in the public domain, in the US at least. Though this rule of thumb can get complicated (for example, in the "Happy Birthday" case), and I'm not sure whether it works at all in the EU. In any case, I can't imagine that "Sheik" is not P.D. in the US, just as "I Can't Give You Anything but Love" remains part of the ASCAP catalogue.

I confess that to me the Robert Zhenming ROSA list looks like something a record-company rights department assembled from European recordings, rather than, say, the result of a cross-licensing agreement with ASCAP.