I have a friend in Vancouver who's just completed several tracks for a band in which he has now suddenly left.  

His former band fully intends to utilize his tracks on their upcoming (still unfinished) CD, although he has now demanded that they do not.   Their reasoning being that he should not have recorded with band funds if he had no intentions to be a part of the release.   From what I know, only bass and drum tracks have been tracked and edited so far.

At the time he recorded, he had full intentions of being part of the release...but due to a nasty personal and financial matter with the band leader, he decided he had no choice but to leave.      

I thought this would be an interesting question to throw out in case any of you might know exactly what rights a musician has in not allowing the release of his/her work after having finished his/her parts in the studio with an independent act....furthermore, one who he tracked drum parts without any agreement of compensation (no cash payment)  aside from minimal projected royalties.    

Because the band is independent  -there are no other contractual agreements.   He works as a drummer sub-contracter for the band at a % of the gross for performances and was promised a % in registration/royalties for songs he assisted with should the CD make any $$.    

He feels certain that his work will be used (writing and performances) on the CD and that they will not acknowledge his participation now that he is no longer with the group.  

So....does he have any legal rights to refuse the band from releasing his work?    Would this require anything as drastic as a court injunction should they insist on releasing the CD with his performances included?

(BTW- my advice to him was to let them use the tracks- this way he at least has a "chance" of getting something back in the future for his efforts.   Like any good divorce though, he wants a clean split to avoid further frustrations down the road)

DISCLAIMER:  I am a retired pilot examiner and not an attorney.  The views expressed here are only my personal thoughts and are not/should not be construed and/or used as legal advice/opinions.  That being said, it would appear your friend has entered into a legally binding verbal contract.  As far as a cease and desist letter, it carries the same weight from him as from an attorney if all the legal requirements are met.  Bear in mind there is a contract in effect and there may be liabilities incurred in canceling or trying to cancel this contract.  Personal differences after the fact do not relieve him of contractual obligations.  BOTTOM LINE:  Contact an attorney before you enter into a contract with anyone and get it in writing.  Its like the guy said, pay me now or pay me later.....

My (extremely limited) understanding of law is that these matters are decided on a case by case basis and even the best of lawyers can't say for sure how a judge would rule.  At least not without getting a whole lot of specific info.

I'm sure it would be an expensive and complicated bit of litigation.

It might be a lot easier to sue for compensation than to block the release.

This is just my opinion, and not based on any personal experiences.

The big picture dictates that he seriously weight the advantage of getting an attorney, vs the recovery from a spec project with apparently no label interest and little chance oif really recovering any money for a long time. Is it really worth trying to win this one?

However, since he is a cowriter of some of the material recorded,  he should make sure he is either bought-off, or is in line for his share of any royalties, in the event that maybe one of his songs is picked up by another artist and it does well.

As for being able to block those songs from being released, it's not as if he could use them if he was successful, either - the other writer(s) would certainly see to that!

Uhh, by writing, you don't mean that he wrote the drum parts, do you? That wouldn't apply in most situations anyway. If that's his only leg to stand on, I suggest he quietly go away, document every payment and event, and IF an album with his work ever surfaces, he can pursue it then.

Bermuda

I wrote on article (January 2002) on the Basics of Copyright Law as it applies to recordings and the performer.

It's just the basics, but it will give you some direction.

http://www.drummercafe.com/education/5-minute-lessons/;action=display;threadid=29

One thing that I want to go ahead and point out is this:

Copyright protection subsists from the time the work is created in fixed form. The copyright in the work of authorship immediately becomes the property of the author who created the work. Only the author or those deriving their rights through the author can rightfully claim copyright.

This means that if you make the music, even if it's a drum part ... it belongs to you, unless you have been compensated for the performance, knowing that you were giving up your right to the performance ... or if you sign a waiver giving up your rights to the copyright.

Typically this would apply to public performance recordings ... but is a little cloudy when it applies to a band situation where a individual would have never been compensated directly for his performance, BUT would have reaped the benefit from the sales of the CD.

My suggestion is to NOT contact a lawyer and spend a bunch of money. Just go to United States Copyright Office website at www.copyright.gov, look up the information, print it out, give it to the people who plan on using the recorded tracks and let them sweat it out ... knowing that they will be breaking the law if they, in fact, carry out their stated intentions.

If this is NOT taking place in the United States of America, then you will need to look up the information for the International Copyright law ... which basically says the same thing.

If all of this fails, THEN and ONLY THEN would I contact a lawyer and spend the money to have them write up the documents and letters. It's been my experience that if you merely point out the law, most people will back down out of fear.

Excellent advice!!!   Many things I hadn't considered myself ---Much thanks to you all-  I'll pass the info along via phone (my friend is a 'road-dog' and isn't computer-abled yet!)