John Fogerty finally gets the rights to his songs back

[beyer160]

I’m just hoping all the animosity will now be set aside…and CCR can perform as a band.

Unless you see old Beelzebub coming down the street with a pair of ice skates, don't bet on it. John Fogerty is a world champion grudge holder, and he's very invested in proving to the world that he doesn't need those guys. A big CCR reunion would just make his solo career look weak in comparison, and the peak demand for them passed decades ago anyway.

 

[Skub]

Glad to hear he got his songs back.

It would seem from this thread there are some who are as bitter as the man they accuse of being bitter. Irony overload.

 

[schmee]

Not true.

John Fogerty as alluded to this many times over the years, and it's given people the false impression that he either wasn't allowed to play his own music, or that Saul Zanetz got all the money if he did.

Neither of those things is true.

You and I could go play CCR songs at an open mic night right now, and no one could stop us. John Fogerty has had that same ability from the day he quit the band. No copyright holder has ever legally prevented anyone from performing a song in public.

What about the money, though? Has anyone ever sat down at the end of the night and written checks to all the artists whose music they covered during the set? Of course not. Performance venues buy a Public Performance License through a Performance Rights Organization (PRO) like ASCAP and BMI. The money from these licenses is distributed to member artists via a complex formula, but it isn't based on having people count the number of CCR songs played at every venue in the world. As a copyright holder, Saul Zanetz made the same money whether Fogerty performed those songs or not.

It was certainly up to John Fogerty whether he wanted to play those songs, but no one forced him not to. Cutting off his nose to spite his face was completely voluntary.

I don't know if Fogerty was actually looking to deceive anyone or not, but he sure gave a lot of folks a false impression.

It could be a problem if Fogarty signed a "non compete" agreement when he gave it to them though. Although I dont think that's what happened .That's different than you and I covering songs.
I imagine ASCAP or BMI COULD go after musicians but they choose not to, they only go after the venues....? which has closed at least 3 local venues in the last 15 years that I know of. After all, we are in theory profiting from someone else's songs.

 

[beyer160]

I imagine ASCAP or BMI COULD go after musicians but they choose not to, they only go after the venues....? which has closed at least 3 local venues in the last 15 years that I know of. After all, we are in theory profiting from someone else's songs.

They can't go after musicians, having a license is the responsibility of the venue.

I played a bar once that had a strict policy of only booking original bands and not allowing any covers, all to avoid having to pay for a license. The PROs aren't everywhere all the time, but they do enforce compliance.

 

[PhoenixBill]

Kinda hard for a CCR reunion since his brother Tom passed away years ago…

 

[Red Ryder]

I don't really see anybody jumping up and down over Fogerty or CCR. I have a friend who plays Susie Q and Born on the Bayou but that's because he to lazy and stoned to learn anything else. Credence burned out and died a long time ago. And poor John just a memory of days gone by.