Getting my publishing rights back

A creative space for business discussions.

Moderators: admin, mdc, TAXIstaff

Post Reply
User avatar
elser
Serious Musician
Serious Musician
Posts: 2234
Joined: Tue Jul 24, 2007 9:32 pm
Gender: Male
Location: Nashville, TN
Contact:

Getting my publishing rights back

Post by elser » Tue Sep 08, 2015 11:26 am

I have some songs that I unfortunately signed to a library in perpetuity. It's been over 2 years and these songs haven't shown up on the librarie's website or any of their albums. Has anyone gone through the process of trying to get your publishing rights back? Is there a standard contract or process?

User avatar
TerrellBurt
Committed Musician
Committed Musician
Posts: 851
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 11:33 am
Gender: Male
Location: Orlando, FL
Contact:

Re: Getting my publishing rights back

Post by TerrellBurt » Tue Sep 08, 2015 12:00 pm

If it's in perpetuity and an exclusive library, I don't believe you can get your publishing rights back. I'm not in any exclusive libraries so I'm not 100% sure.

User avatar
andygabrys
Total Pro
Total Pro
Posts: 5567
Joined: Sun Jan 02, 2011 10:09 pm
Gender: Male
Location: Summerland, BC by way of Santa Fe, Chilliwack, Boston, NYC
Contact:

Re: Getting my publishing rights back

Post by andygabrys » Tue Sep 08, 2015 1:22 pm

It's likely only possible to do what you are talking about with some kind of legal action (which you will probably lose) as the contract you willingly signed is exclusive in perp.

You likely can't sue the publisher for "breach of contract" or similar as most contracts have some kind of clause that states "contract is not an assurance that music will be used" etc.

It's always a gamble with any signing and you are hoping everyone does what you expect. In this case although the tunes haven't shown up on the website, they sti might be pushed to clients via hard drive or download - you don't really know.

My advice is to forget about it and look for new avenues. And I can relate to that the that might smart. Keep on keeping on.

crs7string
Serious Musician
Serious Musician
Posts: 1282
Joined: Wed Dec 20, 2006 3:19 pm
Gender: Male
Location: Nashville, TN
Contact:

Re: Getting my publishing rights back

Post by crs7string » Tue Sep 08, 2015 3:35 pm

Jon,

Every year I seem to have more cues showing up on my BMI statement with placements on deals signed in 2009, 2010, 2011 etc.

Two years in "production music time" is not a lot of time.

To me, it continues to re-enforce the need to continue to feed the front end. The music we sign with libraries today may be in our paycheck in 2018.

Chuck
http://www.TAXI.com/crs7string

"Don't give me time, give me a deadline". Duke Ellington

User avatar
elser
Serious Musician
Serious Musician
Posts: 2234
Joined: Tue Jul 24, 2007 9:32 pm
Gender: Male
Location: Nashville, TN
Contact:

Re: Getting my publishing rights back

Post by elser » Tue Sep 08, 2015 5:09 pm

I guess the other side to this is that it's a newer company and showing signs of instability, and those songs are possibly gone forever in the known universe to paraphrase my contract. But my questions have been answered. It's another case where the "write, submit, repeat".... and fugetaboutit philosophy comes in.
Thanks for chiming in.

User avatar
Casey H
King of the World
King of the World
Posts: 14163
Joined: Tue Jan 27, 2004 3:22 pm
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Contact:

Re: Getting my publishing rights back

Post by Casey H » Tue Sep 08, 2015 7:46 pm

Jon
If you are SURE this is what you want to do, have you thought of just emailing them and asking? Just be sure it's what you really want because if they say no, it may taint their attitude about you and make things worse regarding your tracks.

Chuck makes a great point that 2 years is a short amount of time in this business.

Best of luck,
Casey :D

User avatar
elser
Serious Musician
Serious Musician
Posts: 2234
Joined: Tue Jul 24, 2007 9:32 pm
Gender: Male
Location: Nashville, TN
Contact:

Re: Getting my publishing rights back

Post by elser » Tue Sep 08, 2015 8:07 pm

Casey H wrote:Jon
If you are SURE this is what you want to do, have you thought of just emailing them and asking? Just be sure it's what you really want because if they say no, it may taint their attitude about you and make things worse regarding your tracks.

Chuck makes a great point that 2 years is a short amount of time in this business.

Best of luck,
Casey :D
Hey Casey, yes I have thought about that. And then I wondered if maybe there is a protocol for doing this. It's not the length of time that concerns me, it's what I have been seeing go on in the company. I'm worried that they are just going to go away and my songs will be locked up forever on the guys hard drive.

User avatar
Paulie
Serious Musician
Serious Musician
Posts: 2664
Joined: Sun Mar 08, 2015 8:23 pm
Gender: Male
Location: San Antonio, TX
Contact:

Re: Getting my publishing rights back

Post by Paulie » Tue Sep 08, 2015 10:10 pm

Mic they go out if business will you be able to submit them to other libraries? Check your contract and see if there us anything covering mergers or corporate takeovers of the library. If they do fail, there probably won't be anyone left to sue you if you submit them to other libraries. :D
Paul "yo paulie!" Croteau
"Music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy." Beethoven
http://www.yopauliemusic.com | https://www.taxi.com/members/paulcroteau | https://youtube.com/@yopauliemusic

User avatar
VanderBoegh
Serious Musician
Serious Musician
Posts: 2057
Joined: Sun Mar 18, 2012 2:47 pm
Gender: Male
Location: Boise, Idaho
Contact:

Re: Getting my publishing rights back

Post by VanderBoegh » Wed Sep 09, 2015 10:11 pm

Hey Jon, I'd start by just sending a polite email to the library owner, asking him/her if they had plans to put your songs on their website, or if they are shipping them to clients via hard drives. Don't mention anything about wanting out of your contract (probably impossible anyway, as others have mentioned), but a slight "hey remember me" message might go a long ways.

For what it's worth, I write music for six (that I can think of off the top of my head) libraries that don't use a website at all. Period. No web presence of any sort. Doesn't mean they aren't working for me though... Case in point, one of these libraries has gotten my music used over 100 times on a single season of just one show. They feed the music directly to the shows via hard drives and WeTransfer packages rather than having a searchable website.

So don't let the lack of web presence - or your individual lack on an otherwise searchable web presence - be too much of a cause for alarm.

~~Matt

User avatar
elser
Serious Musician
Serious Musician
Posts: 2234
Joined: Tue Jul 24, 2007 9:32 pm
Gender: Male
Location: Nashville, TN
Contact:

Re: Getting my publishing rights back

Post by elser » Fri Sep 11, 2015 11:53 am

Thanks Matt, that's the best idea, just send them an email. The problem is they don't always communicate. But a reminder as you say is a good idea. Maybe the situation with them isn't as dire as it seems.

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 2 guests