Collect Royalties From Your Music Played On YouTube

As of November 17, 2011, YouTube, in conjunction with the Harry Fox Agency (HFA) and the National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA), will begin offering ANY independent publishers (this could include all of you independent artists…especially if you’re a singer/songwriter or rapper) a chance to collect revenue from musical works uploaded to www.YouTube.com by it’s users. If that’s not enough, any publisher that qualifies, will also receive a proportional piece of a $4,000,000 advance (that’s right, it says FOUR MILLION)!

How Do I Sign Up!

The deadline to opt-in through HFA/NMPA is January 16, 2012. For those who can’t wait to sign up, click here to learn more. For those who want to know more about the deal, keep reading below.

Why Is YouTube Offering This?

Well, the short version of the story is, in August of 2007, the NMPA led a putative class action lawsuit against YouTube/Google. The NMPA and music publisher plaintiffs alleged that YouTube infringed publishers’ copyrights through the unauthorized use of copyrighted music works. Before the plaintiffs could be certified as a class, the District Court issued a decision on behalf of YouTube/Google. In response, the NMPA filed an appeal in an upper court.

To avoid the time and costs of another lengthy court process, the two sides have decided to enter a settlement of sorts. The key point in this licensing agreement for YouTube, is that any Publisher that enters into the agreement, also agrees Not to sue YouTube for any infringements by it’s users, in exchange YOU, the independent, get a share of YouTube ad profits.

So What Do I Get?

You can read the entire agreement here, but basically, whenever a YouTube user uploads a video that either contains a recorded version of your song, or a user generated cover of your song (see Karmin on YouTube  for an example), and YouTube collects advertising revenue from that users’ video, they will share that revenue with you. How much? Most will receive around 15% of the net revenue, while some will receive up to 50%! A pretty sweet deal.

How Do I Know If I Qualify?

All you need is to be is an independent publisher (That would include all you singer/songwriters who do their own publishing). You DO NOT need to be already affiliated with HFA or NMPA to opt-in to the program. If you are a publishing affiliate with ASCAP, BMI, or SESAC, you qualify. If you collect mechanical royalties for any of your music, you qualify. In short, if you write music, and haven’t assigned your copyrights to someone else, you should have a publishing company (read here for more info on publishing companies) and probably qualify.

If you write music, and record it yourself OR license others to use it, and don’t have a publishing company, you NEED to set one up ASAP. Contact us, and we can help!

Although HFA and the NMPA are working with publishers to help register and license them for this deal, you DO NOT need to be affiliated with either of them to participate in this offer. You can actually contact YouTube and deal with them directly to opt-in to this agreement. However, if you think you may qualify to share in the $4 million dollar advance, you must opt-in through the HFA/NMPA. The other advantage of registering using HFA/NMPA is that HFA will represent your claims, and ensure that you collect any royalties owed to you.

Ready To Get Started?

To register, all you need to do is visit www.youtubelicenseoffer.com. The site is full of more details about the opportunity, as well as all the registration applications needed. If you don’t feel comfortable plowing through all of the forms and agreements, we can help! Just contact us, and we will collect all the information needed from you, fill out the forms, and submit them for you, so you can rest, assured it was all done correct! Remember, the deadline to register for this opportunity is January 16, 2012…so don’t wait!

 

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