Message 4/6
Date: 23-Jun-06 @ 11:19 AM -
RE: Bound By Law
copyright has become such a media issue now that every minor exec thinks there's money to be made for fuck all.
over here in sunny wales, s4c (national welsh language tv commisioning body similar to channel4) used to/still has (gray area) a publishing arm set up 50/50 with emi.
s4c are a commisioning body i.e. they don't actually make tv programmes, they get other independant companies to make shit for them. (although they do have a kids tv production arm). when someone (from independant tv company) commissioned new music for a slot the composer would get 50% of prs royalites and s4c/emi would take the rest for being the publishers. (this is known as a 'buy out')
so my prs statements would be - me/partners: 50%, s4c 25%, emi 25%.
supposedly in return for taking 50% s4c/emi would 'exploit' the rights by making them available as library or otherwise making money off the music they owned. of course what happens is ... tv program goes out 2 or 3 times, music doesn't get exploited, sits on a shelf and composer is 50% less well off in short term and god knows how much in long term.
now, oftel or ofcom or whatever they're called decide that s4c, being a commissioning body and not a television programme making company shouldn't also be a music publisher. makes sense to me, they're a public funded broadcaster, not a state sponsored record company. all well and good.
so what happens? the independant tv companies now have access to the rights ... they see free money for fuck all ... maybe pay prs/mcps to set up a publishing company then sit on the 50% that S4C/EMI used to take.
what happens to the composer? still in the same situation, a company who have no experience in music publishing taking ownership of the music for no other reason than short term monetary gain.
i'm working on a solution ;)