Charlie, first of all, welcome back and best wishes to you.

You're absolutely incorrect on this. No one is going to file an infringement suit against someone when the song in question hasn't generated substantial income. It makes no sense to do so. I've been on both sides of this - I have had songs of mine infringed on, and I've received a letter from an attorney accusing me of infringement (falsely, for the record). Could I have sued some of them for infringement? You better believe it. But the people who ripped off my work didn't make any money to speak of for their trouble (a few hundred, maybe a few thousand dollars). I would never have recouped the cost of going to trial, or settling for that matter. Even in the non-litigated settlements, there are legal fees involved. It doesn't happen in a void, or for free. I'll make my point again...why would I sue someone for $10,000 if it costs me $30,000 to do it? And why would I try to negotiate an out-of-court settlement for $1,000 if it's going to cost me $2500-3000 to do so?

Send a threatening, C&D letter? Absolutely I'd do that. But it doesn't really have any teeth in it.

On the other hand, if someone infringes on one of my songs and has a big hit, big synch, etc (something where substantial royalties come in to play), of course I'd pursue litigation or a settlement. And if you think about it, those are the type situations you hear about/read about. It's either a "little guy" suing a "big guy" or a big guy suing another big guy. When's the last time you read, or even heard, about someone like Elton John suing Tex Nobody because poor ol' Tex wrote, recorded & released a song that sounds sort of like Yellow Brick Road and made a couple of hundred bucks?

The overarching point is this. You should absolutely do everything in your power as a writer/artist to avoid plagiarism. But if it happens, and your song has generated no income or very little income, no one is going to legally or financially come after you. They'll just very sternly notify you that they're aware of the infringing song and demand that you pull it down.

*also, you are incorrect in your comments regarding having someone's credit destroyed/wages garnished. The settlement on small infringements such as we are debating would be limited to the royalties generated by the infringing work. Unrelated work income has nothing to do with it. These cases have to be filed in U.S. District Court, not in small claims courts. Copyright is a Federal issue.

Last edited by Roger Brown; 02/04/21 08:02 AM.
http://www.rogerbrownsongs.com
http://www.nashvillesongwriters.com/roger-brown