Legal Question in Entertainment Law in North Carolina

Re: Royalty and Copyright Laws

The record labels' permission will be needed to do this. They will want a substantial royalty. The artists want a royalty. You need to contact the appropriate royalty collection agency, or you are headed for copyright infringement trouble. If you do not know which agency handles recording rights like you seek, you need to contact someone who does. I know the proper agency and would be pleased to assist you with that for a fee, but am not about to give away such information for free. Depending on how you accomplish your customized CD business, you may also need patent advice to avoid several current or future patents related to methods and equipment for producing customized CDs.

I think yours is a particulary perilous business plan frought with serious legal risks unless it stays so small that the record labels determine it is not worth bothering with you. But, if that is the case, you would not be making any serious money at it.

Bottom Line: Your website is probably not a good idea. You need major backing or a ton of money to launch it, and if you had either you probably wouldn't be trying to get advice for free on lawguru.