collaborative copyrighting

Simple answer…. agree terms (signed and sealed) before promoting and go with a 50-50 minus 5-10% each for the Rap depending on how good the Rap is. However…

If I had done most of the work in a Producers role (percentage wise) I would be looking for around that percentage of copyright and royalties/points. Then, considering the amount of Production (plus Mastering) stuff you will be doing I’d add another fair few % on top.

Artist
Contributing Artist(s)
Producer (including session(s) mixing etc..)
Mastering
Distribution

Late night last night, so… would this explain a bit more???

There are 2 notable types of copyright in an Audio Recording. These are….

Musical Copyright, where the person(s) who created musical content, including distinctive Drums and Percussion parts, melody etc… hold the rights unless otherwise stated.

Lyrical Copyright, where the person(s) who created lyrical content, hold the rights unless otherwise stated.

There is also copyright regarding Covers/Sleeves etc…

Compare the following with the Pie Charts below.

Mr. A (Red) Wrote the Music and 80% of the lyrics. He also performed Vocals, was the Producer, Mixing Engineer, and Mastering Engineer of the Recording. He also distributed the recording at his own expense.
[b:rezxokm6]
Mr. B[/b:rezxokm6] (Green) Provided a Drum Loop for the song. In a sense, he is the drummer, and also a contributor. If he did not receive a fee for providing the ‘Loop’ he could be credited with some royalties as means of payment, unless he has agreed otherwise, in writing, that he does not wish to receive any payments, and he wishes to relinquish all rights.

Mr. C (Yellow) Performed a ‘Rap’ over the song and provided additional lyrics. He will hold the copyrights to those Lyrics, unless he gives up those rights. If he has not been paid for the Recording, and the Lyrics, he could be credited with some royalties as a means of payment, unless he has agreed otherwise, in writing, that he does not wish to receive any payments, and he wishes to relinquish all rights.

Allthough rights and fees maybe relinquished, the contribution should be noted to highlight the provided content of the contributors towards the recording.

Copyright Holders

Musical Royalties

Lyrical Royalties

Combined Royalties

So, what I’m saying is…. just because there are 3 copyright holders does not mean there are 3 equal shares of any income. Just as when a Sample has been licensed from an Artist, Sample CD etc etc.. they still hold the Copyright of that sample, unless they state or has been agreed otherwise.

Can i just say that, Anisina that is a very very good and reasonably accurate picture of the realism of the copyright royalties deals. The only thing missing was performance royalties but it would’nt matter in this case. Some mention of overiding royalties would be nice tho. 😉 Tho it would’nt matter again as it would’nt seem to apply in this case.

I think i might have found some knowledge around here, at last.