TAXI.com

Most if not all of my songs are already registered with BMI. Since TAXI says "you must own/control your master and copyright", I assume that this is the first thing to do. When registering a song on my BMI works catalogue, I always claim 200% writer's share. BMI asks if there are any publishers.. and since a lot of these songs haven't been submitted to TAXI yet, or I'm still waiting to hear back from a forward, I check the "no" box. They also ask if the song is "intended for TV or film", where i also check "no".. because checking "yes" on either question is a follow-up of a bunch of unanswered questions.

My question is: If I hear back from a forward where the listing says "you'll get 100% of writer's share and the publisher gets 100% publisher's share", is it too late to change the information on the works catalogue? Is it possible to go back and fix all the information on BMI as needed for TV/film use?

Follow-up question; is registering a song with your PRO enough to "control/own the master/copyright" or should I go about this differently?

I'm a newbie to TAXI so any information on this subject would help.
Thanks!
- Charles Loren

Hi, Charles.

If you are going to target your stuff to libraries, there is no need to register the songs with your PRO. What ever publisher you sign the songs to will take care of that for you. Already registering them COULD cause a problem if the publisher wants to use the same title, but all it does is slow the registration process down a little (or complicate things) since the existing record will need to be updated with the publisher info. The publisher will do this too I think.

Often, though, the publisher will retitle the song and register the new title. Exclusive libraries will do this less often.

There is one LA library I know of in particular that will need to see that you've registered the title with your PRO with no publisher. But if you haven't done this, they will wait for you to do that. They are cool that way.

If you are signing direct to a music supervisor on a show, you will need to register the song with your PRO (in the manner you've done with BMI) in order to get all the royalties you have coming since you're acting as the publisher in that instance.

As far as owning the master and copyright. This means that you have not assigned any exclusive rights to the music and that you own the master copy of the song free and clear.

If you are shooting for non-exclusive, you cannot have assigned exclusive rights to use the song, but you CAN have contracted the song non-exclusively.

In the case of pitching to an exclusive library, you cannot have assigned ANY rights to anyone.

Owning the master copy of the song means that there are no performers or recording houses who can lay any claim or rights to the recorded audio. And If you are working with a cowriter, this means that the cowriter gave you permission to shop the song.

You don't need to prove ownership and control. Also, if you cowrite, your partner will need to sign any contracts that a library sends out.

Hope this Helps

Russell Landwehr

Helped a lot, thanks Russell!

If anyone else has experience in this department as far as PRO registration goes, feel free to shine in.