Public Domain, original arr, Writer's share, sync fees..

[jonnybutter]

First, forgive me if this has been covered (and I'm sure it has been!) but I couldn't find anything in the archives...

There have been a lot of PD type listings lately, mainly classical. I haven't gotten any deals, but lots of forwards, and wanted to be ready if I did get the call (i.e. the email)

First of all, I understand that there's no 'writer's share', or only partial writer's share, but what about for original arrangement of a PD piece? Can you get royalties for an arrangement?

And...

If a publisher offers only writer's share or only a small portion of the sync fee, how does the owner of the master of a PD piece get paid for these? There certainly seems to be some demand.

I have some PD stuff signed already, but never got a placement with any of it, so...?

EDIT: persistence grasshopper

I did find this thread, which sheds some light I think. In it Mazz says PD pays a smaller writer's share than original he thought. : http://forums.taxi.com/post375677.html? ... re#p375677

EDIT #2:

Somehow I never noticed this before, but at my ASCAP works list it has me as arranger for the PD pieces I have there, even though I didn't really change those pieces at all. However, I have some new PD pieces coming up that are substantially different from the original scores, so I'm curious if there's more of a dividend with those.

I don't know if anyone's interested in this, but I'm going to do a little more research and report back here.

[megeath]

Definitely a good question, I'm looking forward to hearing any answers! Thanks for asking.

[andygabrys]

not an expert on this kind of thing (public domain - although I have some stuff in libraries that are primarily x-mss type things in PD)

I found this - its a little complicated but the authors used to have stuff on this TAXI site too...so:

http://artistshousemusic.tumblr.com/pos ... main-music

[jonnybutter]

Thanks Andy (and Megeath!). The linked article is interesting; I wonder if the conventions they cite have changed or might change?

It is complicated and mysterious. I have been digging around off and on since I first posted this and.... I guess just wait and see and keep an eye out for info. I will certainly report back if I get any placements with PD stuff.

[mojobone]

Excellent question. My perspective on this is mostly by means of new arrangements of traditional tunes, and what I can state categorically is that arrangements are derivative works; after that, the devil's in the details. Dean or Matto could probably speak to this, or it could be a good candidate for the next Taxi TV edition of Ask Michael Anything.

[jonnybutter]

it could be a good candidate for the next Taxi TV edition of Ask Michael Anything.

It certainly would be. Monday nights are almost always bad for me, so I usually have to watch the replay later. Mebee if I find a clear spot...