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A friend of mine reached out with a question. She's a BMI composer, not savvy with regard to paperwork or technology in general. She recently looked at her BMI statement and notices that for many years she's been getting paid as a co-writer of an instrumental piece that apparently is in a movie from the early 1970s that still gets aired every now and then. The track has been retitled so she has no idea what the original track was called, and the movie came out while she was still in high school, so it makes no sense. My guess is that it is a data entry error at BMI. But, she has been getting a few hundred bucks every quarter for many years.

So, her question to me: If she were to make the effort to reach out to BMI to correct this, would BMI go as far as asking her to pay back any royalties she was paid on this? She is financially destitute, barely getting by, so that sort of request would be devastating.

A related question: How easy is it to change/remove composers from works on Spotify? I've somehow been associated with an Americana/Folk Song recorded in 1985 that now appears in my discography.

"Not a Lawyer"
I would bet that BMI wouldn't call for a return of the finances
It's a headache for the corporate world and it's a drop in the bucket for how much money they move
I could be very wrong about this at the same time
The correction might also have to involve all responsible parties and be an even bigger headache to them
My money would be on ignoring it and accepting it as a lottery ticket
If her guilt is rising high... Donate to a Good Charity

I'm no good to you on Spotify Questions
Cheers
Cass

Remember the 'Bank error in your favor' card from Monopoly?

I wouldn't say 'boo'.

I don't know how to fix it, but I'd tell her not to worry about it. Ascap and Bmi have been funneling money in multiple ways from the little guys (Indie artists) to the top selling artists for decades. Occasionally, by mistake, the opposite happens.

Here's one way they do it, granted this is for live performances.

https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20120 ... tars.shtml

I would just keep shtum...it's nothing to them ...how many of us have not been paid what we are owed by our PRO ?

Delete this thread... plausible deniability

Sounds fishy to me. In any case, “she” should return the money.

I don't think any of us could guess what BMI would do. Normally, with ASCAP, they've let my balance go negative for a correction and not ask for money back. But the amounts there are probably MUCH smaller than you are talking about here. Much tougher call if thousands are involved. The ethical dilemma is, if I understand correctly, is there is a real co-writer out there who has lost out on a lot of money they are due. I, personally, would have trouble taking someone else's money but I get that this situation has gone on for years and is therefore complicated.

I'm not sure if there is a way to contact BMI and ask them how they handle things like this, how negative can your balance be before they want the money, is there a statute of limitations, etc. without giving them the specifics and setting things in motion. There's got to be a way. Another possibility would be to talk to an entertainment attorney but given she has no money, that doesn't sound possible.

Casey

FYI BMI tends to be helpfull on the phone
ASCAP...not so much

Casey H wrote: ↑

Thu Oct 21, 2021 6:55 pm

I, personally, would have trouble taking someone else's money

Quid pro quo