2-13) Define "sub-publisher."

“Will you adequately promote the songs I am signing over to you?” you ask. From your RID training, you learned that a publisher’s commitment to promote a songwriter's material should be written out. Many publishers will agree in writing to promote one commercial release within one year of the songwriter signing the publishing contract.

“Will this contract deny DeCheHo Publishing the right to charge my songwriter’s royalty account for the publisher’s expense in promoting my songs”, you continue. You learned that the sole reason that songwriters sign with publishers is to make it possible for them to take advantage of the vast network that publishers claim they have. As you learned in the music business classes you took, publishers get writers to sign with them by promising to get the material to artists, record labels and production companies they are in contact with. This, then, is their job. They should not be charging you for simply doing their job.

“Does the contract before me give an equal share of profits to any other writers who may have helped me”, you ask as you flip through the pages. Songwriters who share their composition duties with others normally--and commonly--split profits and authorship the material generates 50/50. If any other division of money or creative ownership is decided upon, this delineation MUST be in writing.

“Will DeCheHo Publishing agree to pay me--or any other writers who have collaborated with me on the songs in question--50% of all the royalties the publisher receives from issuing mechanical licenses to those who wish to record the song?

“When these royalties come in, will they be based on ‘gross’ or ‘net’ income received by DeCheHo Publishing?” RID has taught you that money you should be receiving on the songs your publisher has should be based on GROSS income and not net. Gross income means ALL the money the song has earned before any deductions such as taxes, expenses, or promotion has been deducted. If you are receiving money after such expenses have been deducted, you are receiving money based on NET income.

“Although I know that most publishers charge writers a portion of the commission that the Harry Fox Agency charges for collecting mechanical royalties, we need to agree on just how much DeCheHo will charge me”, you state. The Harry Fox Agency (HFA) is an agency established to act as a middle-man between the owners/authors of a song and the people wishing to use them. For a fee, HFA will issue a “mechanical license” which allows a user to do a recording of a song. This fee HFA charges should be borne by both the writer and publisher. The writer should negotiate to be able to have no more than 3% of the cost charged against his royalties.

“Does this contract deny DeCheHo Publishing the ability to ‘cross-collateralize’ my royalties?” you ask, quietly noticing the beads of perspiration lining the foreheads of the executives. You learned in class that if you are a songwriter signed to a publishing company on a song-to-song basis, the money earned from one song should not be used to offset or “cross-collateralize” any losses from other songs the publisher may have. You also learned that if you are a songwriter as well as a recording artist, the money you earn from one of these pursuits should likewise never be used to handle expenses from the other.

(Continued on Next Lesson)