Requesting permission to sing a cover tune

[kitsilanogal]

I was wondering how I can obtain Leonard Cohen's permission to sing his song "Halleluljah" and post it on YouTube. I do not know how to go about contacting such a star. Would this community have a resource who has the access to find out for me.

In truth, this is being done a little backwards.....because I have already done this, but I did not realize the protocol and copyright infringement situation. I have since found out that I should not be doing this (Van Morrison's folks had one of my video's revoked after it aired for 2-3 days). Most of my pretty lame videos are infringement violations as I have only written three originals.

If Mr. Cohen does not want to grant permission, I will respect his wishes and will remove the video and advise the source of the directive that I have complied.

[jarkko]

The rights to the song belong to Sony, so you have to contact the local Sony company in your country for further advice.

[justinburnett]

Cover tunes on Youtube and elsewhere are an odd issue. Theoretically yes, you do need to obtain permission before doing so. It used to be the Harry Fox Agency that took care of such matters for most labels, though I don't know if that's still the case.

That being said, the fact that there are several hundred Cohen cover videos already on Youtube, I would presume that the issue is not considered high priority at this time. I think that more and more, the industry is waking up to the fact that things like fan websites, non-album cover versions and the like, are an integral part of building and maintaining a healthy fanbase these days. Though releasing an album with a Cohen cover on it would most certainly require the proper royalty payments, and rightly so, non-profit expressions of musical affection from fans should be at least tolerated, and even encouraged.

Just my 2 cents, of course.

Take care
-J-