Caveat: I think the Trees CD is fantastic. It's the kind of thing that I love to make in CD-R for myself and enjoy. But it was made commercially, so I repeat my kudos to Rubellan Remasters for taking the steps to make what is by any reckoning a fantastic reissue of a crucial album taken to the nth degree.
As we know, Scott Davies was in negotiation to produce another disc of Dane Conover's music but that broke down. Scott has detailed his reasons why in this forum and he responded by leaking material from the cancelled project elsewhere in this forum. This took me by surprise, as I noted in my response to this action in his thread with the link to download.
I was on record on the thread as questioning the event's wisdom in my conclusion, and I have a public blog presence with a contact form. Yesterday, I was contacted by Dane Conover who saw me as a way to join this conversation. He has applied for an account in the forum but until such time as he has one, he asked me if I would post his response so that he could have a say. I felt that he had a right and agreed, so here it is, verbatim, below:
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Open Letter to Trees Fans
I don’t usually insert myself into forums, but feel I have no choice, upon discovery that Scott Davies of RUBELLAN REMASTERS has posted my songs for download without permission/license, so here goes:
The problem with business is people. Proven again. This guy has a dream to keep a reissue label going, but doesn’t seem to realize he’s already shot himself in the foot by breaking the law. And who’s gonna trust him NOW?? It’s getting around. This guy’s a liability…
Case in point: with no license agreement in place, he took the liberty of remastering tracks he had access to (which btw, I never requested; it was done under his own volition). He then PLACED THEM IN A PUBLIC FORUM FOR FREE DOWNLOAD. Why? Because of “countless unpaid hours” invested in remastering. He wanted recognition, and knew he wouldn’t get it without some kind of publication, legal or otherwise. Where did these songs originate? From myself; I wrote/recorded them, over the course of “countless unpaid hours”. BUT; there’s a major problem here, not just ethical, but legal. The issuance of a recorded composition under copyright needs permission from the author and/or REAL publisher/administrator PRIOR to such action. This was not done. Why not? Because his little startup Label had plans to put out a compilation, and he wanted some of these tracks included. I declined a few of them, as is my right as the legal owner. I had better material, but he’d made up his mind, and I never got the chance to even present it! In a pique of anger, he posted “his work” on my tracks.
A framer builds a frame, then goes looking for a painting to insert within such a creation. He finds one. Painter declines. Framer grabs painting, puts it in frame, and shouts, “Free painting here! I feel the public needs to see my frame, the one I put so much time into, and the ‘ungrateful’ painter didn’t contribute ONE DIME for my efforts! So here it is, enjoy it, I worked COUNTLESS HOURS building that frame…”
Put it this way: have you ever seen an art gallery or museum with JUST THE FRAMES? Didn’t think so…
In all my years of recording/releasing, I’ve NEVER had a Label dictate to me what to release for public consumption. Not MCA, Universal, or Geffen. Not StiffAmerica, not even Hi Rise Records, or KGB’s “Homegrown” ~
BUT WAIT! There’s more.
Davies then tries to rewrite the chronology, via a smear campaign, on multiple social media outlets, in a self-serving attempt at justifying such behavior. This fiction has our hero humbly putting up with outrageous demands, such as our deciding what can be released! He appears to deeply resent my wife Marisa being part of my creative decision making. We work together, get used to it! We always have. This was made clear FROM THE BEGINNING, and I have all the email, which tells the true, quite rational, story. So wildly skewed, Mr. Davies’ fiction! But it sounds dramatic, and allows him to be a creative author.
Turns out Scott Davies is an author, with three books out; each states “All Rights Reserved” with the standard copyright protection requiring “written permission of the author” for any reproduction beyond “brief excerpts”. So, let’s put it in perspective. Author Davies claims these rights, but doesn’t feel it necessary to respect them in my intellectual property.
https://www.amazon.com/S.W.-Davies/e/B0035UXBXK/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0
Thank you to all Trees fans for your support over the years. There are more official releases coming, this time through a legitimate venue with trusted professionals. Stay Tuned!
Dane Conover/Trees
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Well, that's done. I can't believe I agreed to get involved in this [should have been private] dispute. I see both sides of the issue but I do think that leaking material is not the constructive way forward. Quite the opposite. None of this public drama does Scott's [considerable] effort at being a label any good, and that saddens me. But his action was done. Where do we go from here?