Indie Bible - zankMusic.com

6. Your full physical address - P.O. boxes are unacceptable, unless that is
the only option for addresses in your geographic region
7. The title of the song
8. Name(s) of the author(s) of that song
9. the name of the performer/band doing the cover
10. The playing time (length) of your recording of the song
(minutes:seconds)
11. The number of DPDs made, i.e. how many times your recording was
downloaded
12. The number of DPDs that were never delivered due to a failed
transmission
13. The number of DPDs that were retransmitted in order to
complete/replace an incomplete/failed delivery
14. The total royalty payable (number of total DPDs, not counting ones
never delivered multiplied by the statutory royalty rate (see below))
15. The following statement: “I certify that I have examined this Monthly
Statement of Account and that all statements of fact contained herein
are true, complete, and correct to the best of my knowledge,
information, and belief, and are made in good faith”
16. Your signature
You must also send an Annual Statement of Account at the end of each
calendar year, which is virtually identical in content to the Monthly
Statements, but must be certified by a licensed Certified Public A c c o u n t a n t
( C PA).
Statutory royalty rates
The current (2006) statutory rate for royalties is 9.1¢ for every copy sold if
the playing time for the song is under five minutes. If the playing time for
the song is longer than five minutes, the rate is 1.75¢ per minute, rounding
up to the next minute.
under 5 minutes = 9.1¢ per copy
5 to 5:59 minutes = 10.5¢ per copy (6 minutes x 1.75¢)
6 to 6:59 minutes = 12.25¢ per copy (7 minutes x 1.75¢)
7 to 7:59 minutes = 14¢ per copy (8 minutes x 1.75¢) etc.
The Copyright Office can always keeps the most up to date information
concerning statutory royalty rates at this link:
w w w.copyright.gov/carp/m200a.html
I M P O R TANT notes
The publisher may tell you to that they don’t deal with compulsories, and
that you should contact the Harry Fox A g e n c y. Though the Harry Fox
Agency can handle mechanical licenses for DPDs for most publishers, you
still have right to obtain a compulsory license by following the directions,
above.
Remember the law is on your side. You are entitled to a compulsory
license by law. You have permission - (a compulsory license) - as soon as
you send the notice, described above, to the proper publisher. As long as
your notice complies with Copyright Section 115, (described above), the
publisher need do nothing other than receive the royalty payments. Yo u
d o n ’t even need to wait for their reply.
Other notes
You may be able to negotiate a better deal for yourself, either with lower
royalty rates or less frequent statements of account. If terms are negotiated
which deviate from the standard Section 115 then a mechanical license will
be issued by the publisher or HFA.
If you wish to distribute physical copies (e.g., CDs) of a cover song,
you must obtain a similar compulsory license, available for most popular
songs through the Harry Fox Agency at harryfox.com. If you plan on
distributing between 500 and 2500 physical copies, you can obtain a
compulsory license through the Harry Fox Agency online at songfile.com.
For more information on compulsory licenses for all forms of
distribution, please refer to the Copyright Off i c e ’s web site, at
c o p y r i g h t . g o v, and contact your attorney.
Helpful publications available through the Copyright Office include
Circular 73 (Compulsory License for Making and Distributing
Phonographs), Circular 75 (The Licensing Division of the Copyright
O ffice), and M-200 (Checklists under Section 115 of Title 17).
If you have been distributing a cover song without a compulsory
license or an agreement with the copyright owner, you are ineligible to
obtain a compulsory license for that recording (!), and you may be subject
to civil and/or criminal penalties for copyright infringement.
Be careful to follow the steps exactly as described above, in order to
be legal.
Download and print/save these files
How to Investigate the Copyright Status of a Work
w w w. c o p y r i g h t . g o v / c i r c s / c i r c 2 2 . p d f
Compulsory License For Making and Distributing Phonorecords
w w w. c o p y r i g h t . g o v / c i r c s / c i r c 7 3 . p d f
Notice of intention to obtain a compulsory license
w w w. l o c . g o v / c g i - b i n / f o r m p r o c e s s o r / c o p y r i g h t /
c f r. p l ? & u r l m i d d l e = 1 . 0 . 2 . 6 . 1 . 0 . 1 7 5 . 1 7 & p a r t = 2 0 1 & s e c t i o n = 1 8 & p r e v = 1 7 & n
e x t = 1 9
Royalties and statements of account under compulsory license
w w w. l o c . g o v / c g i - b i n / f o r m p r o c e s s o r / c o p y r i g h t /
c f r. p l ? & u r l m i d d l e = 1 . 0 . 2 . 6 . 1 . 0 . 1 7 5 . 1 8 & p a r t = 2 0 1 & s e c t i o n = 1 9 & p r e v = 1 8 & n
e x t = 2 0
Checklists of Required Information
w w w. c o p y r i g h t . g o v / c a r p / m - 2 0 0 . p d f
These and more available at the U.S. Copyright Office website:
w w w. c o p y r i g h t . g o v
D e rek Sivers is the President of the extremely popular online music store ,
CD Baby. Numbers to consider: 195,551 artists sell their music at CD
B a b y. 3,532,743 CDs have been sold. $53,440,232 has been paid dire c t l y
to the artists. To get your music online, visit www. C D B a b y. c o m
m a r k e t i n g a n d p r o m o t i o n
C R E ATING AN INDIE BUZZ
by Daylle Deanna Schwartz, author of “I Don’t Need a Record Deal!
Your Survival Guide for the Indie Music Revolution”
© 2008 All Rights Reserved. Used By Permission
People won’t buy your music or come to shows if they don’t know about
it. By working the media, you can create a foundation for your career.
Artists ask, “Why would someone write about an unknown artist or play
their music?” Lose that mentality if you want to create a buzz around you
and your music! If you’ve got THE GOODS, the potential is there. Once
you believe your music is worthy of media exposure, you can work to
inform others.
Build your story one press clip and one radio show at a time. Ta k e
baby steps up the ladder from teeny publications and local radio stations to
l a rger ones. As your story builds, so will opportunities to increase it even
more! According to Dalis Allen, producer of the Kerrville Folk Festival,
“Having your record reviewed in [local magazines] may not propel your
career to the degree that you want it to end up. But every one of those
things adds up. If I see a review of someone’s record in Performing
Songwriter and then hear their name somewhere else and then see their
package, I’ve seen their name over and over again. It doesn’t matter if it’s
not the most important thing that you’re going to do. It’s one more step in
what you’re going to do.”
Let people know about you and your music through the media. It may
feel useless if your hard work doesn’t pay off immediately. Don’t lose
hope! Every CD that goes out is another chance for progress. Indie artist
Jennie DeVoe says, “I give CDs to radio and anyone else who should have