ASK & DISCUSS
INDEXPublishing rights for music score in feature doc
13 years, 5 months ago - Sheila Marshall
Is it worth negotiating part of the publishing rights for the soundtrack to an independent feature documentary written by our composer? It will play festivals, possibly some broadcasts and later DVD or VOD release.
Legal options are: 1) just sign a sync rights contract and leave the composer 100% of the publishing rights; 2) sign a contract in which we get part of the publishing rights.
If we go for option 2), do we need to become members of PRS (as publishers?) to collect royalties, or should we work with an existing music publisher?
Would appreciate to hear if anyone has had experience with this.
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13 years, 5 months ago - Graham Langley
I'm a music supervisor, I have experience in publishing in Film/TV and as a
composer.
In this case, I would say you should go for option 1.
There are several things to consider when you want to take on music publishing:
Yes you will have to join PRS and MCPS as a publisher member. You must register
all the works correctly and make sure you can provide properly drafted contracts etc.
You will probably not see any publishing income for at least 1 year, could be longer
(possibly 18 months - 2 years), and longer still for overseas income. You will have to
set up a process for accounting royalties to the composer, on a regular basis as
agreed in your contract.
You could get a sub-publisher on board, but they may not be interested unless you
have a realistic expectation of decent income. They will of course take a cut of that
income, and you will still need to account to the composer on your receipts.
Unless you are expecting multiple broadcasts on major TV channels, and widespread
distribution, the income could actually be fairly low. I would normally expect
DVD/VOD rights to be part of your original commissioning agreement with the
composer. If you were licensing the DVD through MCPS, you would be paying them
to pay you (publisher) back (after some time...), minus their commission.
As a music publisher it would be your responsibility to maximise the income for your
composers, that means chasing unpaid or incorrectly reported
performances/broadcasts around the world . It also means you should be trying to
find other uses for the music you publish - not just as part of your original film. All stuff
you will have to keep up with when you have moved on to your next project...
And obviously you will have to pay the composer a fair advance in respect of his/her
share of publishing income, on top of the sync/commissioning fee..