RAY:
IN ANSWER TO YOUR QUESTIONS:

Q: "I wonder why Harry Fox issues a mechanical license when someone licenses a song? If that's not what they use, what is it?"
A: A HARRY FOX LICENSE IS NOT TECHNICALLY A MECHANICAL LICENSE. FOX IS A CLEARING HOUSE FOR LICENSING. SOME OF THE LICENSES THEY ISSUE ARE ISSUED AT THE MECHANICAL PAYMENT RATE, BUT THEY ALSO REPRESENT THE COPYRIGHT HOLDER FOR NEGOTIATIONS FOR OTHER RATES WHEN THE NUMBER OF COPIES TO BE MADE IS SIGNIFICANT ENOUGH TO WARRANT THE NEGOTIATIONS. IT IS NOT NECESSARY TO GO THROUGH FOX, OR ANY OF THE OTHER CLEARING HOUSES, TO OBTAIN A MECHANICAL LICENSE, IT'S JUST EASIER BECAUSE YOU DON'T HAVE TO DO THE LEG WORK TO TRACK DOWN THE OWNER OF THE COPYRGIHT IF FOX ALREADY REPRESENTS THE SONG.


Q: "What happans when a Record Label records an album and then never releases it? The songwriter's may know about it but????"
A: WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH ANYTHING? ARE YOU SAYING THAT THE RECORD COMPANY DIDN'T HAVE PERMISSION TO RECORD THE SONGS IN THE FIRST PLACE? THEY PROBABLY WOULD'NT HAVE MADE THE RECORDING WITHOUT IT.

Q: "Without going thru a lot of information on the Copyright Web Site how does a Publisher send out song submissions without making copies of them?"
A: THEY DON'T, BUT THEY DON'T NEED A LICENSE OR PERMISSION TO MAKE THIER COPIES BECAUSE THEY HAVE ALREADY BEEN ASSIGNED THE RIGHT TO DO SO (COPYRIGHT) AS PART OF THE PUBLISHING DEAL.

Q: "Maybe a Fishing License isn't a Fishing License. I have read tons of information over the years about how the music business operates but maybe all that information is bogus."
A: PLEASE GIVE ME A CITE TO A RELIABLE PUBLICATION THAT SAYS YOU SHOULDN'T CLEAR THE RIGHTS BEFORE RECORDING THE SONG. I WOULD HAVE TO SAY THAT ANY SUCH INFORMATION YOU HAVE BEEN PROVIDED IS UNRELIABLE. I DON'T KNOW ABOUT THE OTHER INFORMATION ABOUT THE MUSIC BUSINESS TO WHICH YOU REFER, BUT IF THEY'RE TELLING YOU THAT YOU CAN JUST MAKE A RECORDING OF SOMEONE ELSE'S WORK WITHOUT PREMISSION, THEN SOME OF THE OTHER INFORMATION YOU HAVE RECIEVED IS PROBABLY ALSO UNRELIABLE.


Q: "I wonder what all that information in Section 115 of the Copyright Act is all about. Can't be about mechanical's. It must be about automobile repairs."
A> IT MAY BE ABOUT MECHANICAL LICENSES, BUT THEY ONLY APPLY IN CERTAIN SITUATIONS AND NOT IN OTHERS. THE PROBLEM IS THAT PEOPLE SOMETIMES OVER USE THE TERM "MECHANICAL" TO REFER TO ANY KIND OF LICENSE, WHEN WHAT THEY REALLY SHOULD BE TALKING ABOUT IS "CLEARING THE RIGHTS." THE RIGHTS CAN BE OBTAINED IN MORE THAN ONE WAY, INCLUDING PAYING FOR A MECHANICAL LICENSE, BUYING AN INTEREST IN THE COPYRIGHT, AND THROUGH NEGOTIATED LICENSING.

Q:"Around and around and around we go, and where we stop, nobody knows."
A: HOPEFULLY, WE STOP WHEN PEOPLE GAIN ENOUGH INFORMATION TO UNDERSTAND HOW THIS WORKS SO THAT CERTAIN MISPERCEPTIONS CAN BE CORRECTED.
WE'RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER.