SUMMARY COPYRIGHT & ROYALTIES FOR THE MUSICIAN AND PRODUCER
SUMMARY COPYRIGHT & ROYALTIES FOR THE MUSICIAN AND PRODUCER
Music law is a complex story. If you receive a contract, always have it checked by a specialist such as Musica Juridica. If you want to earn money with music, it is important to know where your money will come from. Below is a brief summary to make it all a little clearer.
Copyright
Royalties
AUTHORITY
If you invent something, the copyright arises automatically: you invented it, so it is yours. If a song is played on radio or TV, you should receive money for it. This is regulated by Buma/Stemra and Sena. However, very often you do not create a song on your own, let alone sell/publish it.
Copyright is distributed as follows:
At the Buma/Stemra you register:
Creator of the music (composer) & the creator of the lyrics
Publisher (the one who makes sure your music is used)
At the Sena you register:
Who paid/facilitated the recording (audio producer)
Who played the song (that could be you if you came up with the parts)
These organizations collect money from radio and TV stations, restaurants and public places where music is played. After all, these organizations earn (more) money thanks to music, and if this is your music then you should get paid for it.
So Buma/Stemra and Sena should know exactly where and how often your track and all other music has been played; then they can distribute the collected money proportionally. However, practice shows that they are not very good at this and the money does not always end up in the right place.
2. ROYALTIES
This term is also used instead of money received from copyrights, but here we make a clear distinction. By royalties, we mean the portion of the revenue you receive from physical sales or streams. So if your track is sold or streamed then you receive royalties. If you released the track yourself, you will receive a percentage from the various streaming services. If you have a record deal with a label then you share this part with them. What percentage you receive depends on your deal with the label; with a licensing deal it is often 50/50, with a record deal for multiple tracks it is often much less. Sometimes only 90/10 (10% for you then...). In the latter case, the label has invested or risked quite a bit if all goes well....