What should I do with these masters?

[Michaelrophone]

Hey all! I've got a bit of a head scratcher here and I could really use some advise.

So, I have a few master disks that belong to some past clients. They still owe me some dough, so I've been holding them as collateral until the balance is paid.

The thing is, I've been holding them for A WHILE and I'm very skeptical as to whether or not I'll ever hear from these guys again. Which brings me to my first question:

How long do I have to hold on to these before I can just toss them?

But, the first question just brings up more questions, like:

Can I legally toss them?

Is it essentially abandoned property?

Who owns the rights to the masters if the balance is never paid?

And so on and so forth...

But, the kicker for me is that one of these disks in question contains a song that the artist gave me permission to use for my portfolio. So the even trickier question I've been battling is:

Can I still use the song for my portfolio even though the artist abandoned it and doesn't even have a copy for himself?

Any advise would be greatly appreciated. Thanks,
-Michael

[The Byre]

If you are in the UK or the US, the answer is that the recordings are totally the property of the client.

If you have WRITTEN permission to use the song or other material, then do so. The two issues are totally separate.

You may (under English and Scottish law) give reasonable notice that the recordings will be destroyed, unless the client comes to pick them up. You have to give the client reasonable notice. Under Scottish law (and I believe under English and US law, but you will have to check this!!!) you may put a lien on the recordings, until such time as the debt is cleared.

Lien - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

When you give notice of the lien, you can also give notice, that, unless the debt is cleared, you will seek to use or exploit the material to recover the debt.

In the case of a car repair, a workshop gives notice that unless the debt is cleared within a set period, the car will be sold to recover the debt.

You will have to however, research the law on this issue and the effects of copyright issues of exploitation of the material in your jurisdiction.