If you like to purchase song rights, this means you are buying it, not licensing it. You need to be careful in the world of music; purchasing and licensing are two different terms. Unlike in the software industry that if you buy a copy of Windows 7 CD, Windows also assigned and grant you license to install Windows 7 on your computer. You only owned that copy of the CD but you never own Windows 7.
But if you are PURCHASING song rights, you are paying the owner of the song with money and then you now own ENTIRELY the rights to the song for the entire life of its copyright. But if you are just LICENSING the song, you are paying the owner some cash then you acquire rights to use for that song in any project you like but you still do NOT own the song.
Purchasing Song Rights Overview
Purchasing song rights are broad and can really be complex. In fact if you find it very easy to buy and sell, most likely you miss a lot of things in the process and can be candidate of a future lawsuit. It is because someone might ask what rights? Bear in mind that a song can be exploited in different ways and in different rights.
a.) Rights for public performance – the right to play the song in public.
b.) Mechanical rights – the right to put the song in mechanical recording media, such as CD, DVD, etc.
c.) Synchronization rights – the right to play the song along with images, pictures such as in film and TV.
d.) Print rights – the right to reproduce or print the song melodies and lyrics in paper, magazines, etc.
So if you are purchasing the song rights, make sure you are aware what rights does it include. Of course if you are purchasing something, you assume full ownership of the song. So this means you now owned the entire rights of the song. You now claimed all the royalties due.
If you decided to license works instead of purchasing/buying the entire rights, you need to know how to get permission to use copyrighted music.
Guide to Buyers
1.) Clarify everything by examining the paper work. You can start confirming the song ownership by knowing how to perform a song copyright search.
a.) Ask for the owner his/her copyright certificate of that song and make sure the title of work/song matches exactly the one you are planning to buy.
b.) Contact the Copyright office for confirmation of that certificate accuracy. You can double check the government copyright office website for information and make sure it matches with the document you are examining.
c.) Ask for the owner, a government issued identification cards and make sure it matches exactly with the owner stated in the certificate. Double check the government office for the accuracy of that identification card.
d.) If the owner is a self publishing company or sole proprietorship, ask for the business certificate and confirm it with the respective government offices.
2.) Once the above is cleared; execute a new document with an entertainment attorney that you now own the song. You can send me a mail if you need a US based entertainment attorney; I know some good and affordable ones. This document must be signed by both of you and the original owner. The entertainment attorney knows the rest of the details.
3.) Do a little research about the song, does it already make some money or does it have a publisher? Bear in mind that you find a lot of lawsuits in music business; because of the failure to research and get accurate information. So it is best to research in advance all about the song:
a.) Check if they have records in ASCAP, SESAC, and BMI. You need to contact both the publisher and the songwriters listed to make sure all rights are cleared.
b.) Ask the user if the song already has a third party publisher. Have the song writer or song seller signed an agreement that he/she is certifying the song does not have any publisher before or no active contract with a music publisher. This is for your own protection.
4.) The price you need to pay for the purchase depends on the commercial history of the song. If the song is already earning dollars in terms of royalties, then expect to pay a lot.
5.) Make sure the agreement you sign with the seller is not a licensing agreement. Licensing and purchasing song rights are different.
Guide to Sellers
1.) Before you can sell a song, you need to possess a document proving your entire ownership of the song. This is the copyright certificate of that song issued by the government. Make sure the owner in it matches your name supported with documentation (government issued cards, etc).
Songwriters equipments
2.) Do not sell a good song. Remember that a very good song can make you millions in terms of royalties that you can still pass to your children. And no one will buy a song in its early stage (with the song still not popular) with price of a million. So if you sell a song right now which you think is very good but still not popular, you might sell it a hundred bucks or at most a thousand. But once it will be popular, the buyer of that song can earn millions in royalties. So you loss a lot in this buy and sell transaction. And always remember that a good or hit song may not be a popular song right now or at a time of the buy and sell transaction.
Content last updated on July 5, 2012