Intellectual Property Law

GETTING PAID: Music Publishing Company: Simple Set Up Steps

Want to Get Paid? Who doesn't!
Simple Steps to Setting Up A Publishing Company (so you can get paid!!!)

First: Affiliate with ASCAP or BMI
Application forms give you 3 choices of name, and it is vital to get a name that ensures you are properly paid (and not confusingly similar to other companies). It can take weeks for name approval, so start early.
If you are also a songwriter, and have not yet affiliated, then proceed to affiliate with one of the two societies, and also affiliate your publishing company with that society. At some point, if your company publishes other people?s songs you will have two companies, one for ASCAP and one for BMI.

Second: File in your state whatever is the equivalent of California's "fictitious business -name statement" (if you are not an LLC or corporation using the name of corporation or LLC as the name of publishing company)

Third: register copyright of songs in US Copyright Office; if already registered, then file transfer of copyrights to publisher name.

Fourth: Register all songs with the society (the one you?ve affiliate with in step first). Only need to register as writer or publisher, not both. Forms provided by society, and are self-explanatory.

Congratulations: you now have a music publishing company!
What can you do now? Issue licenses to record companies and other users..

Caveat: unless you have an impending EXPLOITATION (i.e. record coming out or some other exploitation such as a film or TV show using your songs), the societies will not permit you to affiliate.

SO next column: GETTING EXPLOITED !!!!

Full post as published by Idea Lawyer Blog on May 03, 2008 (boomark / email).