The Steel Guitar Forum

Myths,legends and facts of recording? When does a tune become "public domain"? I've heard 20yrs, 30yrs and never. Publisher's fees per song? Etc, etc? Where do you send the fee payment? Thanks

Hi Dennis, song royalties are usually collected at the studio or by the company that prints the CD's.
It is usually 1.5 cents per song per CD. That don't sound like much 'til you sell a million of'em.You can get more info at BMI or ASCAP but I think that's pretty close. Gary A.

To record and distribute a copyrighted song you have to purchase a mechanical license from the publisher or their representative. In most cases this means the Harry Fox Agency -
Harry Fox Agency is associated with The NMPA - National Music Publishers Association.
Most publishers belong to NMPA, so most songs are in the Harry Fox catalog.
The amount you have to pay depends on how many copies are being distributed.

Composers royalties are collected from radio, TV, movies, night clubs, juke box companies, web sites etc., by performing rights organizations such as BMI and ASCAP. These organizations pay royalties to their affiliates (composers and publishers) on a pro rata basis.

song royalties are usually collected at the studio or by the company that prints the CD's.

I'm surprised to read this as I've never heard of this happening. I'm only familiar with the Hairy Fox method of paying mechanical license fees, which is how I've done it for my own CDs. I have seen that the CD manufacturer verifies that you have procured the rights to any cover songs before they'll stick their neck out and manufacture them for you, but I've never seen them be the actual collector of the fees. Anyone else seen what Gary describes?

Nope. Harry Fox Agency has the exclusive.
If anyone else is collecting licensing fees, they may be less than honest.

But don't confuse royalties with mechanical licenses. They are two different things.
Royalties (for a song being performed publicly) are paid to composers & publishers by BMI or ASCAP.
Licensing fees (for the right to record a song) are paid to publishers by whoever is recording and distributing the song.

The distinction is correct; I have amended my post above accordingly.

While Harry Fox is the largest, they are not the exclusive--many publishers, small and large, retain their own licensing without paying the commission to Harry Fox for collecting their fees...

That's interesting John, I didn't know that. I've only ever been involved in purchasing about 18 or 20 MLs and they were all from Harry Fox Agency.
Cheaper to write your own I always say, then all you have to pay is the $30 for copyright registration.