Oh No! Co-writer Signs Away Your Publishing Rights!

Hit writers Clay Mills & Marty Dodson answer a shocking email from the SongTown Mailbag. Know your rights as a songwriter and find out if your collaborator can sign away your publishing! Then, learn what to do to fix it.
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[@SongTownUSA]

What’s Going On with Hit Song "Writing Sessions?" ... kzbin.info/www/bejne/ipKalJRme6qpmZI

[@mattmurph]

Found you guys through some random interview that is several years old... now I'm at least 10 SongTown videos down the rabbit hole, and I can't stop. You guys are exactly who I've been looking for, for YEARS. Future SongTown member here!

[@SongTownUSA]

Glad we could help Matt ~CM

[@denniscallahan6005]

Marty and Clay great details for all of us as it's very confusing the actual song percentage stuff but crucial. Reiterated the number is 200% total (100% writer) & (100% publishing). I register with BMI and it's gotten easier with each song. Thanks men.

[@SongTownUSA]

Glad we could help Dennis. -Clay

[@bumblbesss]

Great Video!!! I have a Question, if you Co-write a song is it your responsibility to make sure your on the Copyright? Cause someone could just take the song Copyright and leave you out 😮 Then you would have to prove you were part of it, which I imagine is tough to do. Great topic you 2, good of you to help this individual and educate the rest of us.

[@SongTownUSA]

Legally a copyright in the U.S. is created the moment you write a song. So I suggest you create a paper trail the day you write it. Send the song in an email to yourself and your co-writers. Register it with your PRO, etc. So if issues arise down the road you have some proof. Here is an article on copyrights that isn't long and will help: songtown.com/on-songwriting/poor-mans-copyright-for-songwriters/

[@thaddeuscorea]

So glad to have found a YT channel that is legit pro songwriters who ALSO understand the business. Subscribed immediately.

[@SongTownUSA]

Glad you’re here!

[@allanburton9385]

As always, excellent tutorial, guys. I realize you are using common industry language when you say that when you write a song you have all of "your" copyright and all of the "publishing" copyright. However, this is not the case legally. When you say you "still have the publishing rights" you make it sound like "publishing" exists when the song is written. Technically, when a song is written there is no "publishing" right. The entire 100% of the copyright is owned by the writer. A publishing right comes into existence only when the writer divests part of his copyright to a publisher. To say it in other words, a writer doesn't own his 50% rights and the 50% publishing rights. At that point (unless there is a previous publishing agreement that would affect the song) there is no publishing right to "keep". The whole 100% interest is a writer's interest and his until he creates the publishing right by giving away part of his writer's rights. The concept of 50% publishing rights that are "held by the writer" comes from the all too common situation where publishers demand 50% of the writer's interest in the song. It is so common, that we now refer to it as the "publishing" (as you did in the video) and assume (as you did in the video) that it's 50%. This only helps the publishers keep up the "norm" of 50%. I agree with everything else you said in the video, and the "publishing" thing is only a pet peeve of mine. I am a lawyer who has studied copyright extensively and a wanna-be songwriter who has spent time writing in Nashville but only got as far as "requested". Thanks again. I really enjoy and benefit from your videos. Please keep them coming.

[@SongTownUSA]

Allan, thanks for the distinction... from an everyday songwriter business standpoint, when a writer writes a song, it goes into their own publishing catalog and they publish themselves (unless they are assigning it to another publisher.) Maybe not at the moment of creation as with a copyright... But, meaning if their song is released, and the writer has not signed with an outside publisher, they are their own publisher and must create their own publishing entity in order to be paid all of the publishing slice of the pie. For instance, If a writer files his or her song with asap to collect performance royalties for them, they will need to have their own publishing company entered in the system. If an artist cuts your song, they will ask you for your admin info to pay the mechanical royalties. etc. If you register a song with ASCAP or BMI, they divide the song into %50 writer and %50 publisher. So our advice is to let writers know so they can take care and collect their full due.

[@allanburton9385]

@@SongTownUSA Thanks for your further info. You guys are great and I "share" your videos a lot. Keep it coming.

[@SongTownUSA]

@@allanburton9385 Thank you buddy! We appreciate it! ~CM