Yes, that ^
It can be a "buyout", whereas the composer still collects the writers share, no?
Unless the contract says that the production owns the pub AND the writers, which:
1) As you say Daryl is, AFAIU, illegal in the UK and/or in violation of PRS' TOS
2) A contract I would never sign - nor should any composer .... save for those who enjoy getting bent over the table and fucked.
Cheers.
Yes But.
The "but" is that if you sign a "work for hire" with no other terms (not typical) you surrender ALL rights, including your right to the composer's share. While outrageous and maybe illegal, nevertheless it's not at all uncommon, sadly.
What Jeff is getting at, however, is the fairly typical practice of a composer contract doing some of the following:
1. Starts with the all-enveloping "work for hire" language. Often this is then added to with so-called belt-and-suspenders clauses (US terms -- not weird here...) that say more or less the same thing over and over: "We, the production company, own your output."
THEN...
...there will be something like, "notwithstanding the foregoing" or "notwithstanding anything to the contrary herein"
2. The production company concedes back to you the writer's share from the PRO,
3. The production company concedes to you some share of revenues from a number of ancillary sources: audio recordings / downloads, sheet music (ha), and sometimes other stuff.
So you have to be sure that the latter stuff does, in fact, get conceded back to you or you will have an uphill battle on it. Even if the law as passed by a legislature is clear on this, case law (judicial decisions -- where the rubber hits the road interpreting those laws) is not necessarily going to bail you out if you make a bad deal.
Good luck out there. You can always try substituting a "sync license" instead of this buyout stuff. Generally, a sync license allows the production company to use (synchronise) your music with the picture (and typically any trailer) for a fee. They also get to use your name and likeness, and they may want to be able to use the music without paying in any sequel. BUT, with a sync license you don't transfer copyright, you can sell the soundtrack if you want and you can reuse the material.
And, since you own the copyright and the recordings, theoretically you also get the Publisher's share of royalties from the PRO, though that can be negotiated as well (they may want it and it's tough not to argue that they should get it if they pay you a fee and / or pay for recording costs). You can even reach a deal where they get listed as the publisher solely when the particular picture gets aired and you get the publishing after that, for anything else.
There can be holdback periods as well, and other terms with sync licenses, but they are still less onerous typically than work for hire.
It's sometimes possible to use a sync license if the money is terrible enough, but not usually (ever?) for a TV network or big studio, no matter how terrible the money is.
Kind regards,
John
PS -- Buy a book, if you want to really learn this stuff:
This Business of Music or check out ASCAP or BMI -- they have info on it too.
