for a reduced mechanical royalty paid to the artist by the record label. This clause may reduce the royalty split to 75-25, the larger portion going to the record label. This clause would not be insisted to artists who place the full rights to works in the hands of the record company’s publisher. The artist remains a liability to the publisher as long as the artist has not made as much money as was invested into them by the publisher. An accountant usually handles the royalty department, which is money received from performances of the copyrighted music. This financial person will also handle normal operations such as payroll, accounts payable/receivable, insurance, purchasing and other financial operations. The copyright department may have one or more people in this division. This department is responsible for a number of tasks. Some of these important tasks are to:1.Conduct a title search. The copyright department first determines who owns the work. Just because an artist claims to have written a song does not give him rights to it. This may be a complicated process, which is why many publishers stay away from music that is sent blindly to them for review. Legal disputes between the publisher and the writer could result and end up in court, which can be a long and costly process. Other issues that add to the complication are co-authors to the music, previous publishers, revision to music or lyrics, and many more. When the copyright department has performed this research, a copyright attorney can answer remaining questions. Depending on the demand of this type of attorney to the firm, the firm may hire one full time for these affairs.2.Registering claims of copyright. This is done to make the copyright official, which may cost about twenty dollars for a song. 3.Handle the mechanical, and synchronization licenses of the music. Mechanical licenses are issued to artists for the recording of a copyrighted work. Sync...
