Musical Dilemma (who do I pay)

Subject: Folklore: Musical Dilemma(who do I pay)
From: GUEST,Janne, Finland.
Date: 18 Nov 04 - 07:07 PM

I own a small to medium sized record company mostly I deal with
Irish and Scottish compilation albums.
I am aware of the copywright details of every track on the albums I deal with and make a point of accounting in the correct manner for
all.
One track which is repeated on several of these albums disturbs me,
I knoe the writer of the song, I also know the reputation of the
songs publisher.
My dilemma is, do I pay the publisher in the normal way, Knowing
that the writer of the song will get nothing, or pay the writer
direct.
My only wish is that the writer of the song getshis due, which in
this case is quite a lot.

Thank you.

Subject: RE: Musical Dilemma (who do I pay)
From: Jeri
Date: 19 Nov 04 - 10:30 AM

Refreshing, because nobody who could help Janne has seen this yet.

You might be better off talking to a copyright lawyer. If the songwriter's in the UK, and I'd guess he is, I'd get in touch with the MCPS (which might possibly stand for the 'Mechanical Copyright Protection Something'). I believe they're the organization in the UK that make sure the correct people get the correct money, and they'd be able to answer questions.

I might be completely wrong about this, but I'm guessing, based on common sense, that the law will care more about the results than the procedure. In other words, who cares whether it's you or the publisher who pays the song's author, as long as he's paid his fair share AND the publisher's paid theirs. Please do NOT take my word for it, though.

Subject: RE: Musical Dilemma (who do I pay)
From: mack/misophist
Date: 19 Nov 04 - 03:00 PM

Ethically, you should pay the writer. The law, however, has nothing to do with ethics. Jeri's right. See a lawyer.

Subject: RE: Musical Dilemma (who do I pay)
From: GUEST,Chanteyranger
Date: 19 Nov 04 - 03:29 PM

In addition to Jeri's advice, you might want to contact the writer first to see if the song is registered with MCPS (Mechanical Copyright Protection Socviety). The society has an application online, which you can print out. It takes about six months for the application to go through. As Jeri and mack said,though, consult a lawyer. That's probably the best advice.

Chanteyranger