Music Industry-Want to release album with no contract!

[Buttons]

Hello.
I would like your advice on a complicated matter i have on a music project I am working.
I started working with this project since 2005 , and now it's ready and I want to release/publish it.
I am the producer of this project and I am running also my own label.
My singer Raziel in 2006 signed for a 3 albums contract with another label (called Lira) . I have recorded most of the vocals though before he signed with Lira.
Since he is signed I decided to change the singer, but keep his vocal parts on the audio part.
So I got a new singer (called Mylo), did the photoshotting of the band with the new singer, did the videoclip with my new singer (who is unsigned by the way) and on the artwork I present the new singer as the singer of the band, although he is NOT the one who sings the album, Raziel sings on the album.
The other label Lira, knows that I have used their singer (Raziel), and they don't seem to want to give me some kind of written permission, because the guy who signs the permissions (the president that is) owns about 30 companies, has also a major TV station, and he really is untouchable , there is no way i could ever get in contact with him.
Do you think I could release the album without their permission since I don't use their singer (Raziel) Photo , or name anywhere in the artwork??
Or is there any way I could legally get away with it , without a written permission of them??

Best Regards, Alexandros Chrysidis

 

[dee_dub]

Your contract was with the singer, not with his new label. Forget about them, you don't need their permission.

Look at the terms of your contract with your singer. What does it say about using his vocals, name, and image after he's left the band/label? Who's got the rights to them? Did he get paid, or will he get paid, for them?

 

[Buttons]

But I don't have a contract with the old singer Raziel!!!
Noone is gonna get paid for this project, neither any of the singers (Raziel and Mylo) neither any of the musicians. That's why I'm not gonna publish their real names on the album , but just nicknames.

 

[Michael Wechsler]

Whether or not you have a contract, you had some type of agreement. The label probably has no claim against you since, as was pointed out to you, the agreement was with the singer. That agreement is what we are talking about here. Exactly what that agreement was/is might be debatable. What was your original plan? Were you or did you compensate the singer? Was he/she just a studio musician that you hired for the recording? Was he/she to share in the revenues, etc.? Those are large questions.

 

[Buttons]

Do you mean something like a spoken/unwritten agreement? Well what we have discussed with the old singer (Raziel) ,who is signed, is that we will not reveal his face nor his name, that he will not get any royalties but do everything just for the pleasure of music. The original plan was though that we would reveal his face and name, but since he signed with the other label, we decided not to go that way. He was not paid or hired in any way. He wouldn't have any income from the album because he wouldn't have any part in the expenses part too.

 

[Michael Wechsler]

Get a written agreement with Raziel. Unspoken agreements may not be enforceable and they usually end up being very expensive when it comes time to prove what those agreements actually were.

 

[Buttons]

Thats true... can't get anything written by Raziel though, he doesn't want to mess up with his label. So we just try to hide at the moment