In previous lessons we have learnt more about copyright and the different parties in the industry involved in the generation of income. In this lesson we will dive deeper into the world of society memberships and how you as a publisher can collect your publishing royalties worldwide.
A publisher has the right to collect on behalf of their writers, but there are multiple parties involved in making this happen. How do publishers make sure they receive income for different forms of usage across different territories? You may have guessed it: they plug into the network of global collection societies.
Writers and publishers can become members of a collection society, granting them permission to collect income on behalf of their catalogue. Usually, a writer or smaller publisher becomes a member of just one collection society. This would generally be the society in their home country. This society will collect income on behalf of their member locally whilst foreign societies, with which it has reciprocal agreements in place, will collect income for the member’s repertoire internationally.
Our image below looks at the example of both the songwriter and publishing being a member of the UK society PRS. PRS will collect local royalties directly and will collect both the publisher’s and writer’s share of foreign royalties via its sister societies, before passing these royalties on to its members. In our image below, the writer’s share is represented by a dotted line.
Now, let’s make it a little bit more complicated. Let’s say the publisher is a member of the English society PRS and the writer is a member of the Dutch society BUMA. PRS will now collect the publisher’s share directly for performance usage in the UK and via its sister societies for performance usage outside of the United Kingdom. It will also collect the writer’s share in the United Kingdom on behalf of BUMA. Whilst BUMA will collect the writer’s share directly for performance usage in the Netherlands and via its sister societies for performance usage outside of the Netherlands. It will also collect the publisher’s share of usage in the Netherlands on behalf of PRS. In our image below, the writer’s share is represented by a dotted line.
Now, you may remember that the writer’s share in the United Kingdom is 50%, but is 66.66% in the Netherlands. In such a scenario, it’s the publisher’s affiliation that will be leading in deciding the split of the writer’s and publisher’s share. In this instance the publisher, being a member of PRS where the publisher’s share is 50%, will collect 50% of performance royalties globally whilst the writer will collect the other half.
The same rules apply to mechanical royalties. The publisher’s affiliation will be leading in deciding the split of the writer’s and publisher’s share. In the above example, the publisher will be able to claim a publisher’s share equal to 100% of the mechanical royalties. If the publisher was a member of STEMRA (the Dutch mechanical society), then the publisher would only be able to claim a publisher’s share of 33.33% (as per STEMRA’s legislation). There is one important exception to this rule that exists for writers with an Anglo-American affiliation. Since these writers will only have an affiliation with a performance society, publishers will always be able to claim a publisher’s share of 100% for mechanical royalties, even when the publisher is affiliated with a continental European society that otherwise legislates a writer’s share for mechanical royalties.
Please note that online streaming income is treated differently: societies usually have a pan-european licence in place for this type of income that allows them to collect directly in other territories on behalf of their writers. We have written more about this in our chapter about Online rights.
Different rules may apply to different societies, so always check with your societies which rules may apply to you and your repertoire.
A writer or publisher can be a member of multiple collection societies at the same time. When you become a member of a collection society you can specify which rights you assign to them. For example, you can tell them to only collect for specific right types (for example, only for Online income or only for Live Performance income) or for specific territories. The latter is the most common example of why you might become a member of different collection societies: you could be a member of BUMA in the Netherlands and only allow BUMA to licence income generated in the Netherlands, a member of GEMA for German performance royalties only and a PRS member for the United Kingdom and the rest of the world. The main benefits would be that you’d possibly receive your income from important territories more quickly, and that only one collection society applies a commission rate to the money. The downside is that it requires a more complex registration collection process and you’d need to pay membership fees to multiple entities.
Writers are typically a member of just one society, which is most often the society in their home territory. But some writers may also additionally become a member of a PRO in the US to aid with collection of US income. How many societies a publisher tends to be a member of depends on its size and resources, with large publishing companies aiming to have a direct society affiliation in all territories that present them with a noteworthy income.
In the image below, we take a look at this example. Our publisher is now a member of GEMA for Germany, of BUMA for the Netherlands and of PRS for the UK and the rest of the world. Our writer is affiliated with BUMA only, and regardless of the publisher’s affiliation, the writer’s share globally flows via BUMA and its sister societies (represented by the dotted line).
Remember the split between the writer’s and publisher’s share that is led by the publisher’s affiliation? The publisher’s affiliation with BUMA and GEMA means the publisher will now just collect 33.33% of the performance royalties in the Netherlands (as BUMA’s legislation dictates) and 33.33% in Germany (as GEMA’s legislation dictates). It will still collect 50% of performance royalties for the United Kingdom and the rest of the world (as PRS’s legislation dictates). The writer will thus collect a 66.66% share for income in the Netherlands and Germany, and 50% for the rest of the world.
Different rules may apply to different societies, so always check with your societies which rules may apply to you and your repertoire.
Sometimes a publisher decides to work with a sub-publisher in specific territories. A sub-publisher is another publishing company that acts on behalf of the original publisher. It is responsible for exploiting the catalogue of the original publisher in the local territory. This includes collecting royalties, registering works and promoting/pitching the catalogue. Because the sub-publisher has local connections, it is often better suited to do this than the original publisher is. However, the sub-publisher will take a commission and the original publisher needs to ensure the sub-publisher has all the catalogue information it needs to correctly register works.
As an example of how royalties flow in this scenario, let’s again take our publisher with a PRS affiliation, but this time he calls in the helping hand of a sub-publisher in the Netherlands and Germany. Regarding the publisher’s share, performance in Germany and the Netherlands is now collected by the sub-publisher via its local society before being passed on to the publisher. Performance in the United Kingdom and the rest of the world is still collected via PRS and its sister societies. The writer’s share still flows entirely via the writer’s society, BUMA, and its sister societies.
And remember the split between the writer’s and publisher’s share? Different rules may apply to the proportion of the writer’s and publisher’s share when a sub-publisher is involved. Some societies who usually limit the publisher’s share to 33.33% can allow sub-publisher’s to claim a publisher’s share of up to 50%. In the example below, the sub-publishers will thus be able to claim a 50% publisher’s share in Germany and the Netherlands, because they work with a sub-publisher. They can claim a 50% publisher’s share in the United Kingdom and the rest of the world, as per PRS’s legislation.
Since different rules may apply in different territories, you should always review the local rules with your societies and your sub-publishers to gain a full picture of the publisher’s shares that you are claiming.
We learned that certain types of revenue such as synchronisation, sheet, lyrics and grand rights are generally licensed with the publisher directly. Publishers will negotiate and collect the full share of the income. Though collection societies may still be involved in these rights types in certain territories.
As we learnt in our lesson about online income, publishers may also take certain rights away from the societies in certain territories and licence these directly instead.
