Song signed to library bur registered with ASCAP....

[CHuckmott]

Was offered a contract for a song . As part of what I normally do, when I finish a song, I go into my Ascap account and register my song with them, 50% as writer, 50% as publisher which I assumed was standard practice. So how does this work when signing said track to a library? That they (or I) retitle? So that they get their publishing (?) share?

[richmstudios]

Not real experienced here but I let you know what I've learned and understood about this:

If the licensee/library does NOT re-title your track and you've already registered it w/ASCAP either your or they will need to modify the publisher share percentage (usually the library licensing this will take a percentage of the publishing).

If you re-title it for them, use your re-titled version as an "exclusive" ASCAP registration and assign them the appropriate share/percentage under this retitled ASCAP registration.

If they are going to re-title it, usually they will create the ASCAP registration themselves on your behalf and assign the appropriate share/percentage under their retitled registration.

Hope this helps. Check back here for further suggestions/answers from those TAXI peers with further experience on this...

[eeoo]

All the publishers I work with take care of registering my tracks with my PRO, I just provide them with my ipi #. Only time I register my tracks myself is if it's a direct to the production company deal with no publisher involved.

In this case just explain the situation to the publisher and I'm sure they'll know how to deal with it, or ask someone at ASCAP.

Hope that helps!

eo

[remmet]

Was offered a contract for a song . As part of what I normally do, when I finish a song, I go into my Ascap account and register my song with them, 50% as writer, 50% as publisher which I assumed was standard practice. So how does this work when signing said track to a library? That they (or I) retitle? So that they get their publishing (?) share?

I'm curious about the 50% each for writing and publishing. Unless you were purposely leaving room for a future co-writer and publisher to take the remaining 50% of the respective writer's and publisher's shares, why wouldn't you, at least initially, take 100% of both? And, as far as I know, once assigned to a library, most libraries take 100% of the publishing rights and give you 100% of the writer's rights. So you would at least want to initially allot yourself 100% of the writer's shares. Am I missing something here?

Richard

[andygabrys]

Was offered a contract for a song . As part of what I normally do, when I finish a song, I go into my Ascap account and register my song with them, 50% as writer, 50% as publisher which I assumed was standard practice. So how does this work when signing said track to a library? That they (or I) retitle? So that they get their publishing (?) share?

I'm curious about the 50% each for writing and publishing. Unless you were purposely leaving room for a future co-writer and publisher to take the remaining 50% of the respective writer's and publisher's shares, why wouldn't you, at least initially, take 100% of both? And, as far as I know, once assigned to a library, most libraries take 100% of the publishing rights and give you 100% of the writer's rights. So you would at least want to initially allot yourself 100% of the writer's shares. Am I missing something here?

Richard

or did you mean you were splitting ownership of your song into 50% writer and 50% publisher (and therefore giving yourself 100% of the writers share, and 100% of the publishers share?)

[CHuckmott]

Yes, what I meant is you have to assign 100% of the rights, but it can't total ore then 100 so 50 and 50.....

[remmet]

Yes, what I meant is you have to assign 100% of the rights, but it can't total ore then 100 so 50 and 50.....

My understanding is that before you assign any rights to anyone else, there are 2 separate ownership rights (and corresponding income streams): that of the writer and that of the publisher. Since you were talking about registering your work before assigning it to any other entity, the total percentage of rights would actually be 200%, not 100%. Writer's share of 100% plus Publisher's share of 100% equals 200%. That's why if you were both the writer AND the publisher, you would get all of the writer's share of residuals, and all of the publisher's share. Until you have assigned any of those rights to a library or other entity, you would be entitled to 100% of both income sources. That's why there's such an advantage to retaining both sets of rights: double the income. The disadvantage is that as your own publisher, you have to do all the marketing of your work, something that a library/publisher is probably better equipped to do.

If I'm wrong about any of this, someone please let me know!

Richard

[crs7string]

BMI requires the total of the writer's share and publisher's share to equal 200%.

It is usually the publisher's role to register with the PRO's. Some don't register the tracks and they show up on a cue sheet and then are registered.

One library I work with requires you to register the tracks as writer and publisher before they take the tracks into their library. It appears to be another layer of due diligence in making sure the tracks are clear of any other encumbrance.

In other words, it is all over the place. Waiting for a specific publisher to offer direction is I think the safest way to go.


Chuck

[mazz]

Just for confusion: ASCAP uses 100% for the total pie. So if you own 100% of the writer's share, then ASCAP shows 50%. I understand that BMI uses 200%: 100% writer's share and 100% publisher's share.

The bottom line is, numbering schemes aside, you should get 100% of the writer's share (50% of the total in ASCAP-ese). Usually a publisher will want the entire publishing side (100% BMI 50% ASCAP). But deals can vary widely.

I never register my music with ASCAP unless I'm going to self publish. I let the publishers do the registering.

[CHuckmott]

That clears stuff up guys,thank you. Makes sense to let the publisher assign. Will contact tomorrow to clarify. New lesson learned.....one of probably 10000 more to come the further I delve into this. (10000 as in one for every placement ha!).