A. One cannot get a compulsory license for re-recording what's already 
been recorded by another, for re-distribution/sale. One must get 
permission and contract to do this from the rights holder(s).

B. If a work is recorded, and one wants to _make their own recording_ of 
the work (writing,) song, or music, a Mechanical License must be allowed 
under the current law. https://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ73.pdf

C. There is a law of intellectual property which may conflict with this, 
but I don't see how.
Although there are some acceptations noted in Trade agreements on 
Patents here. 
https://www.iatp.org/files/Intellectual_Property_Rights_and_the_Use_of_Co.pdf 
under a trade agreement TRIPS.

Thus; although I'm not a lawyer, I believe Timberhead of Maine (an 
entity, in the U.S.) is in error thinking this, unless of course they 
are referring to A. above.

On 5/26/2017 1:09 PM, Richard L. Hess wrote:
> Hi, Paul,
>
> Thank you for this most thorough summary. Regarding the mechanical 
> license, I recently came across this at http://www.gordonbok.com/ :
>
>> It has come to our attention that several musicians wanting to record 
>> songs composed by Gordon Bok have received mechanical licenses from 
>> agencies not associated with Timberhead Music LLC, the sole agency 
>> representing him. All of Gordon’s songs are copyrighted and 
>> registered with Timberhead Music and only Timberhead Music can 
>> legally license recordings of them. Please be advised that any other 
>> agency claiming to have the authority to issue mechanical licenses 
>> does not in fact have that authority. All permission requests need to 
>> be directed to Timberhead in order to be legal. We all want to do the 
>> right thing, so please respect copyright procedures.
>
> Any comments?
>
>
> Thanks!
>
> Cheers,
>
> Richard
>
> On 2017-05-25 12:50 AM, Paul Jackson wrote:
>> There is also the issue of Compulsory licensing. Use of recorded 
>> sound for copying. This is known in the industry as a MECHANICAL 
>> LICENSE. The Harry Fox Agency handles this. Bands and orchestras can 
>> make copies of their public performances and sell them by paying a 
>> standard fee via HFA, or by paying a set amount, usually $25 to each 
>> of the publishers of the music involved in order to record their 
>> performances and sell the short runs of discs. One can learn more at 
>> their site: 
>> https://www.harryfox.com/license_music/what_is_mechanical_license.html