The last section on the Copyright article by Robert Brode. If youve written a good song, others will want access to these rights; however, copyright law, prevents anyone else from exercising these rights without permission from and payment to you, the copyright holder. As a songwriter, the quality of your songs generates attention but the copyrights in your songs generate income. Although there are two music copyrights, the musical work copyright (MWC) and the sound recording copyright (SRC), the copyright of interest to the songwriter is the MWC and the potential income streams it creates. These income streams rightfully belong to the songwriter. The songwriter holds the copyright in his or her musical work from the moment that work is fixed in a tangible medium (e.g., recorded on a $4 tape recorder, on an iPhone, in a million dollar studio, or written on the back of a cocktail napkin). Publishers are in the business of promoting and monetizing musical works. Songwriters generally assign their MWCs, in whole or in part, to a music publisher, along with the exclusive right to administer the compositions (e.g., issue all documents and collect all income related to the compositions other than the writers share of public performance royalties. Once the publisher obtains the right to administer a song, the publisher will (one hopes) work to find parties interested in using the song, license the song to those interested parties, and collect the income generated under such licenses. Performance Rights Organizations (PROs) negotiate licenses for the public performance of musical compositions, monitor usage of each musical composition by licensees, and collect and distribute income generated under such licenses. PROs do not take ownership of the musical works they license; they merely administer the public performance rights and royalties on behalf of music publishers and songwriters. The Copyright Act gives MWC holders broad and exclusive public performance rights. The performance of a work includes both live performances and transmissions of performances (whether live or recorded). A performance is public if: (1) it occurs at a place open to the public where a substantial number of persons, outside of family and friends, gather; or (2) the performance is transmitted to such a place; or (3) the performance is transmitted so that members of the public can receive the performance at the same or different places, at the same or different times. Most music performed outside the home in what most people would consider a public setting (e.g., at a club, at a sporting event, at a concert venue), or transmitted or broadcast to the public (e.g., via radio, television, webcast, or stream) is a public performance that requires a license from and payment to the MWC holder. ** Monies earned from licensing public performance rights are called public performance royalties. The Copyright Act also affords some public performance rights to SRC holders but these rights are very narrow and therefore less valuable. A SRC holders exclusive public performance rights only apply to public performances via digital audio transmissions, such as satellite radio, cable systems and online streams or webcasts. SRC holders, unlike MWC holders, are not paid for public performances on broadcast radio, television, or at nightclubs or sporting events. The most common type of license issued by the PROs is called a blanket license. A blanket license allows a user, such as a TV or radio station, to publicly perform all the works in that PROs catalog as often as desired for the term of the license. PROs also grant per-program licenses and permit publishers and writers to license directly to users should they choose. The PROs use complicated formulas to calculate the appropriate sum to be paid to each songwriter and publisher based on the money collected in a given year and the number of public performances of a particular song. Each PRO calculates the value of each public performance differently, so co writers of a song belonging to different PROs may receive checks in different amounts. PROs calculate the number of public performances for any given composition through various survey and sampling methods. Not every public performance is accounted for, so your royalty statement may not account for the one spin your song received at a small radio station. PROs divide public performance royalties equally between the songwriter (the writers share) and publisher (the publishers share). If you dont have a publishing deal, you should join your chosen PRO as a writer AND a publisher, and collect both the writers share and the publishers share. Now that youve seen just a small example of how valuable your rights can be. Most of the players in the music industry require use of the exclusive rights held by songwriters and music publishers to function. A radio station cant play a song unless that song is licensed by the MWC holder (or, as you just learned, by a PRO on behalf of the copyright holder). A producer of a television show cant use copyrighted music in his/her television show without a license from the MWC holder and no television station can broadcast that producers show featuring the copyrighted music unless the station obtains a public performance license for the song with the MWC holders PRO. A record label cant release a recording of a previously unreleased song to the public without permission of the MWC holder. Remember that your work is valuable.
Posted on: Sun, 26 Oct 2014 05:15:02 +0000
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