I am producing a ballet that uses popular, pre-recorded rock songs as
the music score. The songs have already been released to the public;
we are not changing the songs. The songs will be played back, not
performed live. We will be charging admission, but don't expect to
make a big profit.
As I understand it, I need to secure a license for the "dramatic" or
"grand" rights for each song from the song publisher. ASCAP and BMI
(and other PROs) do not license these types of rights. I know who the
song publishers are.
I want to know how much publishers typically get for these types of
rights. I will use this information in my negotiations with the
publishers. Ideally you'll tell me whether the payment is based on a
percentage of the ticket sales, and what percentage range typically
is. Or, if the calculation is done another way, then I'd love to know
that. I don't need an answer of "it depends, and is subject to
negotiation". :)
It would be fabulous if you could provide specific information, as in
"for this show, the licensing deal cost this much." In any case, I
need to know where you found the information you provide, since the
publisher will certainly try to take advantage of my relative
ignorance of this field.
The answer will ideally apply to the US market, but I can also use
information about other major markets (Canada, UK, Germany, France) if
the US information is not available. |
Request for Question Clarification by
hummer-ga
on
05 Feb 2005 07:01 PST
Hi tmelcher,
I was sorry to notice that your question hadn't been answered yet so I
decided to have another look. I've gathered together a few links for
you but I think the first one may be particularly useful (please click
on the link to read the entire article). Since fees for grand rights
are dependent on so many variables, I think the best you can hope to
find online is a low/high range and then expect to fall somewhere in
the middle of it.
Dance NYC: Intellectual Property:
What will it cost to get permission?
The cost of a license for the grand rights of a piece of music is
totally negotiable. "The cost can range from completely free to more
than $1,000 per performance. Some publishers will charge as much as
the traffic will bear. (This is yet another reason to negotiate early
on before you are wedded to a piece of music.) Others are more
reasonable. Usually the cost of the license (the ?royalty?) is set at
a certain price per performance, but it may be possible instead to
negotiate a flat fee (or bulk rate) covering unlimited performances
during a set period of time. A flat fee may result in a cheaper rate
per performance (you have to do the math). It will definitely ease the
burden of reporting."
http://www.dancenyc.org/upload/chapter/23_Pdf_4_copyright_d.pdf
"Call Music Theater International in NYC and ask them to send or fax
you what they can of a catalog. Their rates should should give you a
good idea of not only what you should ask for, but for backing up what
it is your asking for."
Music Theater International
545 8th Ave NYC
212.868.6668
[if that number doesn't work, try this one instead]
Music Theatre International
421 West 54th Street
New York, NY 10019
Tel: (212) 541-4684 Fax: (212) 397-4684
http://www.mtishows.com/about_mti.asp
or try
Musical Theater Works Inc
440 Lafayette NYC
212.677.0040
http://groups.google.ca/groups?hl=en&lr=&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&selm=3574EFFB.7755%40mail.idt.net
THE USE OF COPYRIGHTED MATERIALS IN LIVE THEATRE PRODUCTIONS
3.0 Grand Rights/Small Rights
"First, one must secure the permission of the publisher of the music.
This is no easy feat. Sometimes (especially with older material) it
is almost impossible to locate the name of the publisher. Publishers
often would rather not be bothered by these small nuisances, and this
produces an incredibly wide range of responses, from "absolutley not"
to "sure, go ahead," to the most dreaded response of all "we will
license this piece to you for $...." What makes this response so
dreaded is that often the quote is higher than the royalty for the
production itself! "
C:\WINDOWS\TEMP\SoundCopyrights.doc
"Grand rights for performances after the premiere are negotiated with
the composer or publisher in one of three ways: as a flat fee for the
run; based on the number of seats in hall; or as a percentage of box
office gross income."
http://www.meetthecomposer.org/programs/CommBasicGuide04.pdf
The Music We Perform:
An overview of royalties, rentals and rights:
http://www.mola-inc.org/pdf/MusicWePerform.pdf
"The publisher may not be convinced of your ability to mount the show;
or the copyright owner may
simply choose not to grant the licence."
http://www.simpsons.com.au/documents/mb2/09-Music_Business_2_Music_Publishing.pdf
That all said, perhaps you should go into the negotiations as you
would an auction. What matters is not so much what the auctioneer or
other bidders will do, but rather what is the highest price you are
willing/able to pay.
I realize these links aren't exactly what you were hoping but if they
can help you, I would be happy to post them as an answer. Please let
me know your thoughts - it is possible to adjust the price of the
question if needed.
I'll look forward to hearing from you,
hummer
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