Synch Deals - who gets a share of the money?

[fblades]

Synch Deals - who gets a share of the money?

I am submitting songs for sync ops - and am concerned as to who should be paid a cut of the sync fee.

Example - I write a song with my co-writer (50:50 split).
Our three-piece band records the song - myself, cowriter and a third band member.
And we bring in a session drummer who is paid for the recording.

We then get paid $12,000 to sync the song on a film. Where should the money go?

£6,000 each to the songwriters, £4,000 each to the band members, or £3,000 to all four musicians? Or some other split based on songwriter/performers getting paid more than non-songwriter performers?

Is this a songwriting royalty issue or a band agreement/session agreement issue? Or is it based on who owns the recording rights (who paid for the recording to be made)

Or am I over-complicating things...

thanks, Frank

[PS: The $12,000 figure was for ease of divisions! ]

[eeoo]

If you're hiring session musicians that get payed for their time they should sign work for hire agreements that make it clear that they are being paid a one time fee for their services and have no claims to the song itself and any future income it may produce. As far as who get's what share of the money that's up to you and your bandmates, seems like the easiest way to go is split it evenly but whatever you decide should be made clear upfront, preferably in writing.

And as always with these things it needs to be stated that I'm Not a Lawyer!

So grain of salt and all that...

[shorttonpro]

Certainly a band agreement issue. Without any sort of agreement, only you and your co-writer would technically own the copyrights, but many bands choose to share all copyrights of songs created as band out of principal as everyone may contribute different things to different songs, to prevent resentment etc... Ethan was spot on.

Session musician is work-for-hire and won't get any extra payments other than his initial fee. Since you are the copyright owner of both the song and the recording, it makes the split easy as an all in fee.

The only other aspect to keep in mind is recouping your recording costs. If these were payed out of an individual's pocket rather than some kind of band fun, you should certainly be entitled to first deduct money for session players and studio time (even if it is a home studio, because you've invested in this).

[Kolstad]

It's an agreement issue, everybody owns their own stuff untill something else is agreed upon. So, you own half of the copyright (the (c)), and the four of you own each share of the recording (the (p)), unless an agreement says otherwise. Whether you pay the drummer or not is irrelevant, if he was only paid to play at the session, he can still claim ownership of the track he recorded, unless you have a signed work-for-hire agreement. If he was a Union member, it can also further be a lil' tricky with music libraries.

So, basically, unless you have signed agreements, you have a legal mess in your hands. If the paper trail is good, you are good. You are definitely not over complicating things. If you don't have an agreement, for all you know, the drummer may claim all of the 12 grand.

[fblades]

Guys - many thanks for your comments!

It is so obvious! With sync we are talking a straightforward 50:50 between the copyright split © and recording split ℗, in the same way that songwriting royalties are split 50:50 between publisher split and songwriter split.

After that it is just a matter of dividing up the pie as agreed between the people involved…which makes it essential to have those legally binding agreements in place BEFORE money becomes an issue.

So simple! [Everything is really simple once you know the answers!]

thanks again,

Frank