MUI 205-copyright basics and publishing

copyright

a limited duration monopoly that grants you exclusive rights to a work

lasts for life of author PLUS 70 years

5 exclusive rights

reproduce, distribute, performance, display, derivative works

what defines something as copyrightable?

original and of sufficient creativity (also must have a tangible copy ie. recording or sheet music)

compulsory license

exceptions to the copyright monopoly where you must issue a license (cable tv rebroadcasts, PBS, jukeboxes, digital performances of records, non-interactive streaming like radio shows)

mechanical royalties

payment for devices serving to mechanically reproduce sound (either physically or digitally—downloads and streams)

statutory rate

how mechanical royalties are paid; a set amount

publisher

takes care of the business and is assigned copyright of song from a songwriter

administration rights

finding users, issuing licenses, collecting money, paying artist

major publishing company

have global infrastructure, offer both co AND full publishing deals, control huge catalogs

UMPG, Sony/ATV, Warner Chappell

minor publishing company

offers personal attention, not international, usually has a genre-specific focus, feeder pipelines to majors

BMG, Reservoir, Primary Wave, Round Hill

administrative publishing company

usually involves no creative pitching, good for DIY artists or huge artists who want control, collection-efficient

SongTrust, 3rd Side, Time Core

publishing deal

assign 100% of publishing rights to a publisher→$; forfeit full ownership and writer earns less money (publisher’s/writer’s share is 50/50)

co-publishing deal

assign 50% of publishing rights to a publisher→$$; retain more ownership, but harder deal to secure (writer gets their 50% plus some of publisher’s—typically 25%)

admin deal

writer retains full ownership of publishing rights→ 20% is collected from publisher; publisher only handles administrative tasks like royalty collection or copyright registration

non-exclusive license

allows anyone to use the work at the same time under the same terms (voluntary license)

includes performance rights, sync licenses and YouTube/TikTok music licenses

blanket license

PROs issue so all compositions they represent are covered under one license

creative role in publishing

essentially does A&R—pitch songs to recording artists and other A&R teams, connects writers to singers

administer role in publishing

makes sure songs are properly registered, money is properly collected and accounted for

sync + licensing role in publishing

finding places for songwriter’s songs; get briefs from ad agencies or labels looking for songs with a specific feeling to fit (commercials, films, TV, etc.)

PRO

performing rights organization

DSP

digital service provider