SAMPLING (Part II)
Todd Brabec, ASCAP Executive VP of Membership
WHO OWNS THE COPYRIGHT
If a share of the copyright ownership is negotiated as part of the deal, the publisher of the new song will transfer a portion of the copyright (from 5% to 75% and sometimes 100%) to the publisher of the sampled composition. The names of the songwriters who wrote the sampled composition will also be added as writers of the new song. Under this type of deal, the music publisher and the writers of the old song will receive a portion of all money made by the new version.
CD, TAPE AND RECORD SALES
The music publisher of the sampled song can grant the owner of the new composition a worldwide license to use the sampled composition for an agreed-upon share of the mechanical royalties. Under this deal the publisher and writer of the sampled composition normally receive from 5% to 75% of the royalties generated by the new song but these percentages can be higher or lower depending on the facts of each particular case.
In some cases, the writer and music publisher of the sampled composition will, in the case where the new sampling writer is either a recording artist or record producer, agree to be bound by the terms of the controlled composition clause of the recording artist or record production agreement. This is the clause that reduces the amount of the songwriter's and music publisher's mechanical royalties to the recording artist/writer for songs that are on an album.
In many cases, however, the publisher of the sampled composition will demand that its share of royalties be based on the statutory mechanical rate regardless of the reduced controlled composition rate agreed to by the recording artist or producer who has used the old song.
PERFORMANCE INCOME (radio, television, etc.)
The performance rights organization will follow the ownership and payment percentages agreed to in the sampling agreement and will pay accordingly.
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