Author: SCI Members Mailing List
Subject: Contract from Germany
Dear Folks:
Just a comment, from the husband of a lawyer (hold all jokes, please): contracts don't have to be binary, take-it-or-leave-it affairs. It is perfectly acceptable for you to alter terms of the contract, and mail it back. Perhaps they are open to negotiation, perhaps not.
Considering the difficulty of getting published these days, allowing the publisher sole rights of distribution doesn't seem a bad idea. I don't think I would fuss about getting a cut of the sale price, either. The publisher has a right to cover their costs. I DO think it is worth including a clause that the copyright (and all rights) return to you if the piece is out of publication for a period of time, as one of our colleague suggests. I also have a question about PERFORMANCE royalties. The way I read this, all of these monies also go to the publisher. I don't have any problem with them getting PUBLISHER royalties, but as the composers, I would want to get any COMPOSER royalties that were generated.
Just my two cents!
-Dan Weymouth
On Wed, Sep 3, 2014 at 1:17 PM, SCI Members Mailing List < scimembers at societyofcomposers.org> wrote:
[...]
Dr. Daniel Weymouth Stony Brook University Convener of Composition Faculty, Music Department Director, cDACT (Consortium for Digital Arts, Culture and Technology)
Subject: Contract from Germany
Dear Folks:
Just a comment, from the husband of a lawyer (hold all jokes, please): contracts don't have to be binary, take-it-or-leave-it affairs. It is perfectly acceptable for you to alter terms of the contract, and mail it back. Perhaps they are open to negotiation, perhaps not.
Considering the difficulty of getting published these days, allowing the publisher sole rights of distribution doesn't seem a bad idea. I don't think I would fuss about getting a cut of the sale price, either. The publisher has a right to cover their costs. I DO think it is worth including a clause that the copyright (and all rights) return to you if the piece is out of publication for a period of time, as one of our colleague suggests. I also have a question about PERFORMANCE royalties. The way I read this, all of these monies also go to the publisher. I don't have any problem with them getting PUBLISHER royalties, but as the composers, I would want to get any COMPOSER royalties that were generated.
Just my two cents!
-Dan Weymouth
On Wed, Sep 3, 2014 at 1:17 PM, SCI Members Mailing List < scimembers at societyofcomposers.org> wrote:
[...]
Dr. Daniel Weymouth Stony Brook University Convener of Composition Faculty, Music Department Director, cDACT (Consortium for Digital Arts, Culture and Technology)