A happy and prosperous new year to you, my blog subscriber and reader! Success is yours and mine in 2018 in Jesus' name. Amen!
In my last post of 2017, I wrote about the advantages of working with a music publisher. I also wrote that in my next post, I would explain the term, public domain.
So, here I go!
Songs can fall within the public domain in two categories:
- When creative compositions are not protected under the copyright law from inception
- When the legal claim to a song expires (lapses)
Let me explain these clearly.
- When creative compositions are not protected under the copyright law from inception: A work is in the public domain when no one on this entire planet can
find any law which gives them legal claim to that property.Public domain is the complete absence of any law allowing ownership of a
property.
If you can prove that a composition is in the public domain, you can use
the work any way you can imagine. You can arrange, reproduce, perform, record, publish it and use or sell
it commercially any way you like.This opportunity could arise as a mistake on the part of a songwriter who does not legally guard his song.
- When the legal claim to a song expires (lapses): The copyright to a song will eventually expire and the owner will no longer have exclusive rights to his song. This is because the copyright to every song in Nigeria and many foreign country lasts for the lifetime of the author (songwriter) plus 70 years.For example, Fela Anikulapo Kuti must have collected royalties for his music during his lifetime. He died in 1997. From 1997 up till 70 years' time, his heirs/children/grandchildren/estate will collect his royalties from all over the world. These heirs have been enjoying from Fela's sweat for 21 years now (1997 - 2018). They have 49 more years to go. After these 49 years, anybody in the world can use Fela's songs without being harassed or arrested.
The legal term public domain refers to works whose exclusive intellectual property rights have expired,have been forfeited,have been expressly waived, or are inapplicable.
For example, the works of Shakespeare and Beethoven and most of the early silent films, are all now in the public domain by either being created before copyrights existed or by their copyright term expiring.
I look forward to your questions in the comment section below.
I am musically yours,
DJ Irawo
- The most important function
of a music publisher is to promote songs to licensees (record
label executives, independent music artistes, music producers, music supervisors, advertising companies, telecommunication companies, etc) to help get your music re-recorded by a music artiste or used be in films, etc.
- A
good music publisher will have contacts and experience allowing her to
promote songs to the maximum number of potential licensees and negotiate good
terms for their use unlike if you as an independent songwriter do the running around by yourself.
- A good publisher will also stay on top
of industry developments and actively seek out new sources of income. Without access to industry contacts, publications
and experience, an independent songwriter may be unable to place music with
licensees at favorable terms. It is most likely that you will be cheated.
- All these different kinds of
licenses and royalties require that the publisher creates, receive and review a
lot of paperwork consisting of various contracts,
forms and royalty statements. All of these contracts
are complex in nature. Forgetting about or making an error on a form or contract can mean a loss of
royalties for you and your heirs.
- The music publisher will also ensure that a cue sheet, listing every
song used in the film has been provided to the performing rights societies,
allowing the writers and publishers to receive additional royalties each time
the film is broadcast on television or cable channels.
- After the music publisher
negotiates a license, he collects the fee from the licensee, keeps the
publisher's share (usually 50%) and forwards the rest to the songwriter or
heir at the end of each royalty period (usually every six months). The task of
collecting royalties from a large number of licensees and forwarding the
correct percentages to the correct writers and heirs, can be labor and
paperwork-intensive. If a particular licensee doesn't pay the
agreed-upon fee, a publisher may have an attorney or specialized collections
person on staff to go after them. An individual songwriter will not have the knowledge and resources to do these.
- A
music publisher also has foreign affiliates to collect royalties on foreign
uses. For example, a
TV show or film produced in one country may eventually be shown on cable
channels in many different countries. Foreign affiliates are better equipped
than the songwriter or original publisher to become aware of such uses and
ensure that the proper royalties are paid. The foreign affiliates collect royalties in their territories, keep
their cuts, then forward the royalties to the Nigerian publisher, who keeps a cut
and pays the songwriter the balance.
- Another
reason to have a publisher
is that many potential licensees don't want to deal with individual
songwriters. For example, if you called up Kiss Daniel's record label and
said "I just wrote a song and I will like Kiss Daniel to sing it."Just like that? I doubt they will be interested. Even if G-Worldwide Entertainment agrees to use your song, you will certainly not get the best deal without a music publisher.
In my next blog, I will explain what it means for a song to be in the public domain.
I remain musically yours,
DJ Irawo
Cheers!
