publishing issue in specific scenario (help!)

joshua3189

New member
Hello, this is for all of you who have some music industry experience and know a bit about the business side. I recorded a 16 song album recently. I wrote my lyrics, recorded my own vocals, and mixed my own vocals in my home studio. Another person created and mixed all the instrumentals in his home studio. the third party is the guy who introduced us both and wants to run a record label. he encouraged us for years to keep working on the album until it was done, but did not assist in the creation process or invest financially in us, mainly he just considers his connections to be his contribution. his main activity was social media promotion and licensing a few singles to other labels for vinyl release. i urged him for a clear contract / agreement for a very long time but he never got around to it. Finally, i created a contract that LICENSED the album to him as a record label to brand, sell, etc on a annual term basis that would automatically renew unless there was an discrepancy. We would all split master sales / royalties three ways, but first and second party (me and the maker of instrumentals) would hold the copyright and publishing for the recordings, lyrics, and compositions and such. The third party was upset that we would not offer him a percentage of publishing/copyright and the whole thing fell apart. basically he thinks we are cutting him out of the deal if any of the songs were to be syncd in a movie or something. are we being fair? what would be a 'fair' agreement in this scenario? from his perspective the whole album wouldn't exist without him, we would have never met. from our perspective, we did all the work of creating so why relinquish songwriter credit? let me know what you think!! thanks


 
As I'm sure you know, without a [signed] agreement the copyright / publishing [by default] belong to the creators of the work. 3rd party is entitled to nothing. At this point you can cut him in [the third party] if you want but it is entirely up to you.

This is where you gotta think long and hard about your relationship, his contribution and then make a decision.

I wish I had an answer for you but in the end its you and your conscience.


Good luck.
 
>>>>This is where you've gotta think long and hard about your relationship, his contribution, and then make a decision.<<<<

This Right Here^^^^.

That is the short and simple answer. We can talk about the difference between "publishing" income (which in the business usually means the "publisher's share" of the income, which you certainly can cut him in on if you are willing), and the "songwriter's share," which is not affected by the other share whatsoever.

But the details don't matter so much right now, because you're really talking two things-- Relationship and Ethics. You can legally cut him out, but do you really want to cut off your nose to spite your face? 100% of 0 income is still 0 income.

GJ
 
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