(UPDATED) Last week MusikPitch launched an online marketplace for custom songwriting. Clients post their needs for songs along with a budget and songwriters submit tracks. But as some astute Hypebot readers discovered, the terms (see terms after the jump below) require songwriters to give up all ownership of the chosen songs to MusikPitch.
So if your dream is to hear your song in a movie or commercial and then release it on your own...pretty much forget it. In response to the criticism MusikPitch issued this statement:
"You are correct in that MusikPitch will take ownership of the song. You are also correct in that our service is directed more at songwriters creating something specific and new in order to win that contest - if the prize amount is worth it to the songwriter to compete of course.
We understand that songwriters will have existing material that will fit certain contests and love the fact that they will be able to possibly earn some revenue from a song in their catalog that may have not been used otherwise."
b. Grant of Rights. Musician hereby sells, assigns, delivers, grants and sets over to MusikPitch, its successors and assigns, all of its right, title and interest in and to the winning Music, which the Customer selects in respect of a Contest hosted by the Customer, including the title, words and Music thereof, all world-wide rights therein, all copyrights therein and thereto, all registrations with respect thereto, and the exclusive right to secure copyrights and extensions and renewals of copyrights in the same and in any arrangements and adaptations thereof, all throughout the universe, and any and all other rights, claims and demands that Musician now has or to which Musician might become entitled at any time in the future, or to which Musician might be entitled or that Musician hereafter could or might secure throughout the universe with respect thereto if these presents had not been made, and to have and to hold the same absolutely and forever unto MusikPitch, its successors and assigns, subject only to any existing agreements between MusikPitch and Musician.
UPDATE: Has MusikPitch given up already? As of Tuesday morning a visit to the MusikPitch site yielded only a message that read:
please try again later."
