Help me make sense of this paragraph (legal)

[chillfok]

I downloaded a couple of Work For Hire contracts and one of them (original can be found here) states:

(At the top of the contract it defines Artist as the composer and Musician as the person who you are hiring to sing/play in your song)

Not withstanding the foregoing, in the event that the recording embodying Musician’s performance is licensed for synchronization with an audiovisual production for which Artist receives a fee for Master Use, Musician will receive ________ percent of 50% of the total of combined Synchronization and Master Use fee received by the Artist or ________ percent of 100% of the Master Use fee (if paid separately) received by Artist.

I have these questions:

1) Why is it separating on one hand "____ percent of 50% of the total of combined Synchronization and Master Use fee received by the Artist" and on the other "________ percent of 100% of the Master Use fee (if paid separately) received by Artist." Wouldn't it make sense to just agree on a percent of the total combined fee?
2) Where does the 50% on the above question come from?
3) Is if fair to pay someone $0 on the work for hire side and give them a percentage only? If so, what percentage's fair?
4) What happens when you don't get a fee but just money straight off your PRO's check? If they signed for a very low Work For Hire fee and 0% of any fees, they are pretty much screwed.

I'm asking this because I'm in the process of building a rooster with musicians to record my stuff and then submit to TAXI. I'm not rich and I can't pay a high WFH fee every time I record something that's why I'm interested in giving the musicians a percentage but I don't want to screw anybody over (like in potential case in question #4 above) because obviously I'd like to keep recording with people and I would like people to want to record with me too.

I'm not well versed in legal jargon especially since English is not my first language so layman terms are much appreciated!

Thanks!

[DesireInspires]

Consult an attorney.

[andygabrys]

i am not an attorney, nor do I play one on tv......


50% of sync plus 50% of master = in a lot of cases 100% of master. As the composition and pub sides often go for the same amount.

wel, you don't want to ruffle feathers, but people have to understand that they are engaging in a speculative venture if they play for a percentage. Savvy people are going to ask where the recording is going and what the possible earnings are, what your track record is placing tracks etc. Other people (who might be savvy as well) maybe don't care and will play for peanuts on the backend. Other people won't play for anything other than upfront payment.

Likely, the musicians you are working with are grown ups, and they can make their own decisions whether its worth it for them. If you can live with the amount you are giving away, somebody is probably going to be able to live with what you are offering. Hopefully the performance is good enough that you can do something with it. If not, its a good learning experience.

Good luck!

[chillfok]

andygabrys, thanks!

Still putting all this together and every bit of info is much appreciated!