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...refers to the money that must be paid to the
owner of the (composition) copyright every time a physical copy is
made of any record containing that composition.
That means for every actual piece of vinyl,
8-track or cassette, a certain amount must be paid the copyright
owner (usually the composer) . Excluding use for broadcast, hence
all the specifically marked "promo only" stuff. The
artist never gets paid for those copies. Nor do they get money
when their (major) label gives bunches of those records to Record
and Tape Clubs. They are considered promotional copies, given to
those companies as a "reward" for buying a certain
amount of another artist.
By law, this right cannot be assigned to the
label ! So usually in a recording contract, the label bargains a
lower rate (usually 2/3 or 3/4) that it must pay the composer.
Again, this is a lot of paper work, small labels usually just roll
this archaic stuff into a decent royalty rate.
The reason I call this archaic, is that it is
grown out of an old system where the composer, arranger,
performer, and label are very distinct entities.
In the US, the Harry
Fox Agency is known for collecting and administrating
Mechanical Licenses. |
