Warranties and indemnities
Lesson time: (1min 37sec)
Judge Jules explains warranties and indemnities in record deals - the promises you make to a label and what happens if you break them.
Course preview
This lesson is part of the course Legals & Deals: The Basics of The Music Industry
Watch a preview of the full course below.
Lesson transcript:
Understanding Warranties and Indemnities in Copyright Transfers
Warranties and indemnities exist in most transfers of copyright. Put simply, they are:
- The promises that you make to the record company to induce them to enter into the agreement with you
- The consequences of breaking those promises
Many of these promises are quite commonsensical, but it's important to understand them.
Key Promises in Copyright Transfers
We've all heard about famous court cases like Blurred Lines, and certain promises are often at the heart of these cases.
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Right to Enter the Contract
You are able to enter the contract in the first place. This means:- You're not signed to somebody else.
- There's no legal reason why you shouldn't be entering the contract.
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Ownership of Rights
Nobody else owns rights to the track that you are selling or licensing to the record label. -
Infringing Elements
This is probably the most controversial and frequently encountered promise:- There are no infringing elements either to the recording or indeed the song embodied within that recording.
Consequences of Breach
If any of these prove not to be the case, and the record company incurs expenses due to claims (e.g., someone asserting that you sampled their work or that you were signed to them), the indemnity part of warranties and indemnities states that:
- You, the artist, would need to cover the record company's costs incurred as a result of breaching the promises you made initially.
Conclusion
While this is a simplified version, it's crucial to understand the purity and the "virginity" of what you are selling to your record label.
About the instructor
Jules O'Riordan has over 30 years of experience across the entire spectrum of the music industry. This includes nearly a decade as an A&R for the Universal umbrella of labels, 15 years as a presenter on BBC Radio 1, over 150 record releases and remixes in his own capacity as a recording artist, plus a 30-year career as one of Britain's best-known, globally-travelled DJs (Judge Jules), with over 5000 gigs under his belt, plus extensive experience as an event promoter and artist manager at the highest level. Suffice to say, Jules knows the music industry inside-out, and his clients regard him as a trusted advisor for whom no legal or business affairs challenge or problem is too large or small. Jules has been a lawyer for 10 years. His practice takes in the entire breadth of the music-focused entertainment industry. His legal and deal expertise includes management, recording, publishing, distribution and label services, music-based apps, games and tech projects, production deals, producers, featured artists, endorsements, merchandising, neighbouring rights, TV/film scores, live performance, events and venue agreements, plus copyright and rights infringement and many other disputes. Jules's clients include artists, management companies, record labels, songwriters, event promoters, producers, music tech businesses, production companies, live agents, music publishers and DJs. He has spoken on many panels and seminars including ADE, Brighton Music Conference and AIM events, and has been a guest speaker on legal issues across a number of on and off-line media outlets, including BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC Introducing, Financial Times, The Sun, The Times and Mixmag. Jules speaks fluent Spanish. Who better to demystify the contracts and deals every musician eventually faces? In his course, Jules turns three decades of hard-won industry knowledge into plain-English guidance, so you can understand the business side of music and protect your work long before you sign on the dotted line. read more