50% of my copyright?

[slyjoe]

Hi everybody,

Just finished digesting a publishing contract.

The company is called Levy Music Publishing and someone called me after I submitted music to 1-800-PLAY.com, a company I found through Music Connection Magazine. Is anyone familiar with them? Their clients are impressive and they appear professional and credible.

I've read and signed other non-exclusive contracts, and this is my first EXCLUSIVE one. Much of it is similar, though there was a phrase that sent up my yellow flag...

"Artist assigns to publisher 50% of Artist's interest in Compositions, including, without limitation, THE COPYRIGHTS THEREIN..."

Is this copyright transfer pretty standard in publishing deals?

Cheers!

[mazz]

There's no standard but in my experience, publishers want 50% of the song which equates to 50% of the performance royalties and would be registered as such with your PRO.

They may also be speaking about sync fees, which are upfront fees, but thus is often a separate item in the contract.

I suggest you contact an entertainment attorney with experience in publishing contracts. Consider it an investmsemt in your career and a learning experience for when the next contract comes around. The fact that you generated a deal means that others could come and you really ought to become familiar with this stuff! You owe it to your career!

There's several good books out there with one of my favorites the one by Passman. It's pretty easy to understand because of his way of explaining the material.

Good luck!

Mazz

PS: you might consider removing the name of the company from your post.