GEMA
GEMA (Gesellschaft für musikalische Aufführungs- und mechanische Vervielfältigungsrechte; English: Society for musical performing and mechanical reproduction rights) is a government-mandated collecting society and performance rights organization based in Germany, with administrative offices in Berlin and Munich. GEMA represents the usage rights stemming from authors’ rights (e.g., mechanical licensing, broadcast licensing, synchronization licensing) for the musical works of those composers, lyricists, and publishers who are members in the organization. As an “accredited profit-making association with legal capacity”, GEMA’s capacity to be a subject of legal rights and duties is based upon state conferral (under Article 22 of the German civil code). (More from Wikipedia)
Officially, the Kill City LP’s were released by Bomp! Records in 1977; but in order to actually get the albums produced, Bomp! had made a deal with a leading record importer called Jem Records, and they were the ones who pressed and sold the original LP’s on ugly green vinyl and also got the licensing rights. (I have Jem Records and names similar to that, like GEMA, on who knows how many of my albums, though “Jem Records” apparently does not appear anywhere on the Kill City-era records). There are also 8-track tapes of both Kill City and Metallic K.O. out there according to Discogs.
(December 2017)
