Hi!

When a singer pays a songwriter to perform one of their songs, do they first have to contact the writer (or his agent, legal people, etc.) and state what they intend to use the song for? For example, if I wanted to sing a Billy Bragg song, but all proceeds of the record sales would go to a right-wing political organisation, would I need to tell him first?

Yes, I think. Because (a.:) they are the owners of the copyrights, since they are they are the writers, and (b.:) Billy Bragg is a left-wing (to the best of my knowledge). See the Chumbawamba cases... It's always useful to ask for a permission if You wanna cover a song. But these are just my thoughts. Maybe the laws changed, I dunno any better. Soon I'll unleash my KLF-raps too, so beware...be _very_ beware...:) a Gyerek _________________________________________________________________ STOP MORE SPAM with the new MSN 8 and get 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail