Licensing Question

[eeoo]

Howdy all,

My band is licensing a song for an HBO documentary. We've already gotten the upfront licensing fee. My question is to do with the backend. Since there is no publisher involved I presume we can collect the publishers share of the back end. Who is responsible for sending in the cue sheet? The music supe? Any thoughts on how get my ducks in a row on this one? Obviously we have to register it correctly with our PRO's but what is next?

Thanks a lot!

eo

[mazz]

The production company is responsible for filing the cue sheet. You are responsible for giving them the correct information for the cue sheet including writers and publishers and the splits of each. You should request a cue sheet from the production company so you have a record in case they don't file it for some reason. But they should, it's their obligation!

Also you need to register the song with the pro of the writers and publishers. Make sure it matches what you send to the producers!

Congrats!!

[DesireInspires]

You and your band should seriously register as publishers. As a matter of a fact, each of you should have your own publishing company. You guys may disband one day, so having your own companies only makes sense. Get your business in order.

By the way, congratulations!

[andygabrys]

congrats Ethan!!

I think the rest have covered the pertinent bits.

[SANDPEARL]

You and your band should seriously register as publishers. As a matter of a fact, each of you should have your own publishing company. You guys may disband one day, so having your own companies only makes sense. Get your business in order.

By the way, congratulations!

Definitely....if you're getting direct deals such as this one (good for you) you're missing out if you don't have a publishing company...even in the nonexclusive library world occasionally a song or 2 will get purged from a library and a music supervisor may have already had it in mind for a project...or the song may have been rejected from a library but still somehow gets into the hands of a MS or an end user...then if it's used and there's no publisher...there's no one to pay...this has happened to me and because I had my company set up I got PAID...and still get paid every year

[CHuckmott]

Congrats on this , that is great news.....question though, and it isn't my intention to hijack the thread, but in my PRO I'm registered as writer and publisher and always list myself as publisher. WHat is the difference persay in doing that and setting up your own publishing company? And the advantages?

[DesireInspires]

Congrats on this , that is great news.....question though, and it isn't my intention to hijack the thread, but in my PRO I'm registered as writer and publisher and always list myself as publisher. WHat is the difference persay in doing that and setting up your own publishing company? And the advantages?

I have heard that if a songwriter is with BMI, s/he can receive the publisher's royalties without formally setting up a publishing company. But I still think BMI songwriters should set up a formal publishing company anyway.

I am with ASCAP. I set up my publishing company the same time I registered as a songwriter. I know for ASCAP, the songwriter cannot collect publisher's royalties. The songwriter must form a separate company.

This may sound harsh, but if I were in a band, I would want to get as much money as I could. I would not take any chances on missing out on royalties. I would sign up as a songwriter and a publisher.

Remember, as a publisher you can buy or obtain the rights to songs written by other people and make money. That is exactly how music libraries make money. They get hundreds of songwriters to make music and collect royalties for being the publisher. If 500 songwriters generated $200,000 per quarter as a whole, the publisher(s) would also be getting $200,000.

Do what you love, but always follow the money.

[eeoo]

Thanks for chiming in everyone. I think I'll give BMI a call and see if I can get an answer to the question of whether or not, as a BMI member, I need to set up a publishing compnay or whether I can simply list myself as a publisher.

Thanks a lot guys!

eo

[andygabrys]

technically as has been pointed out, if you are with BMI you can list your writers percentage (assuming one writer here for simplicity) as 200% which accounts for the publishers share as well.

this can get messy if you do a co-write with an ASCAP member, and the ASCAP member registers the song with ASCAP. In 2 separate occasions, ASCAP did not credit my share of the publishing without having the info for my publishing co.

Some years ago now, I did a custom score for a film that was going to run on TV in canada, and I retained both halves. I was advised by BMI Nashville that If I had a question about setting a publishing company, that it was probably an indication that it was time to do one. unfortunately its $150 though BMI. But the royalties had long paid it off.

good luck EO - again very exciting development!

[eeoo]

Yeah we're excited, the rest of the music is by Daniel Lanois!