Frontiers | Recaptured Vol II DVD Available Now

[nimbus]

Hey everyone! Just a note to mention that Frontiers is now shipping the all-new DVD of our show from March 5 at Shaftman Performance Hall. Details available now at www.journeytributeband.com/store.htm

Thanks!

[The_Noble_Cause]

Can someone explain the legalities of this to me ?
I'm not arraigning you or anything of the sort, it's just, I always thought that cover/tribute bands were allowed to exist as long as they didn't somehow profit from the copyrighted songs of which they played.
I recall a documentary made about cover bands that featured a Journey cover band, but Perry supposedly wouldn't permit scenes of the cover band singing songs he co-wrote to air and the Journey scenes were promptly excised from the documentary (this was discussed on the official Journey forum).

Knowing this, I gotta wonder, how in the hell did you get permission to sell & release this thing?

[NealIsGod]

Good point. I wouldn't want to purchase anything illegal, and definitely not something that hurts Journey. Fill us in!

[nimbus]

Hey Noble Cause,

No problems, have been through the legalities on this. We are not using Journey's name or likeness on the DVD. We were denied permission to use any of their names, likenesses, logos, etc...Notice we do not represent that we are Journey nor do we use any trademarked logos or likenesses of Journey. In fact, we stopped saying "Frontiers - A Tribute to Journey."

That being said, US Copyright law states that any song (once originally recorded) can be performed, re-recorded, or otherwise re-done by anyone (tribute band or if Neil Young wanted to cover "Ask The Lonely," provided the lyrics or melody etc were not changed. The US Government sets a statutory royalty rate of .08 per song. I have been in contact w/Steve Perry's attorney's office on this and basically here's the deal. If we sold 100 copies of a CD with 10 Journey songs on it , we would owe Journey $80. So a record company would set up quarterly payments to pay the songwriters appropriate royalties. I can assure you that 100 copies sold of our product is extremely optomistic. However, we (and anyone else) are within our legal rights to do so.

Sony owns the original master recordings to Journey's catalogue. So if the producers of the film "View From The Top" wanted to use the actual recording of "Don't Stop Believin'" in their film, they would have to get permission from Sony (and most likely Steve Perry, Neal Schon, and Jonathan Cain) and negotiate a price (likely in the high 5 figures) to use that recording.

Or they could hire John Koha and his band to re-record the song, and pay a licensing fee to the songwriter's administrators, and not need permission from anyone, which is exactly what they did.

Now I'm not sure what legal problems the makers of the film "TRIBUTE" ran into. They could have had someone in a Steve Perry costume singing "Open Arms" in a strip club, and Steve Perry could have made the argument that there was reasonable enough justification to tie up the release of that film. I don't know...anything I would speculate about it is absolute conjecture...No one but Steve Perry and the producers (and their lawyers) know exactly what happened.

Suffice it to say, however, that our situation is different. Provided the correct fees are paid, rerecording of any song is perfectly legal. Also, I would venture to guess that although Journey's most ardent followers sometimes seem to act as though Journey is in dire financial straights and needs every bit and drop of support the general public can muster, the $166 dollars or so that we may pay Journey on the copies of the DVD we sell will probably not make one bit of difference to them financially. The recording is only to be used for private use, not for public performance, broadcast, or in jukeboxes.

It's a perfectly understandable question, but I just wanted to get our facts completely straight and in the open...More information can be found at the US Copyright Office's page on Compulsory Licensing...Here:

http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ73.pdf

Thanks!

[The_Noble_Cause]

Very informative. Always wondered how that worked.
Thanks Jeremy.

[Abitaman]

I have heard of this band, but never listened to them. I bought the cd, early this week and it was senting at my doorstep yesterday! Prompt service for sure. I did not know what I was going to hear. Not bad at all. Group sounds like Journey, if Perry had stayed in. Lead singer isn't a dead ringer for Perry, but is very very close. Heard they don't do Augeri songs, shame. Could show how Perry might have sounded on them.
That said, Augeri is still the man for Journey. He may not sound as Perry like as the Frontiers guy, but he sounds, is the sound, of Journey!
Frontiers-keep up the good work, thought about getting the dvd, but I'm not big into watching music, something about that takes away from the songs. But your cd is very good_ERIC

[low d]

Also, it is not illegal to play covers at a show, as long as the show is not being recorded for distribution.

Now, it is also no longer illegal to video shows, and share with others, with permission from the performer.

Theoretically, a tribute band could play the covers, have a fan video tape it, and then have them share it, for promotional purposes/get the name out there, and not have to pay a dime.