does this publishing scenario make sense?

[quincyg]

I am producing a hip hop album. all of the instrumentals are mine. there is a primary mc and we are planning to simply split publishing an the master. we are bringing in a lot of guest mc's and vocalists and the mc feels we should pay these cats a small flat fee and give them no publishing. my feeling is that we should give them a small up front fee and a small percentage of the writers share of publishing, but give them no interest in the masters or any income from mechanicals.

My question is a, is it possible to assign a percentage of the writers share and copyright, but not give any mechanical? and b, does this seem like a good strategy.

my feeling is that we can keep things very fair this way, in that if the album does well then these folks will see money from spins and if it doesn't then no sweat they made a couple hundred for writing a verse. also i am thinking that if i can keep mechanicals out of the picture then i don't have to deal with the administrative headache of royalty payouts and book keeping if we self release, and furthermore this arrangement would be very clean for any labels that may pick up the album.

would simly file with bmi/ascap, copyright the song with the guests getting a percent with no administrative rights.

does this make sense?

[dementedchord]

question A. sure it's doable.. if it's on paper and they sign it's on them...
question B. now we're talkin ethics... and that's on you...

[quincyg]

i guess my question is partly, what is ethical?
i am intending to be more ethical than what the mc wants, but do you think it is unethical to not give mechanical rights?

[quincyg]

i apologize if this is long winded. i also realize that there is not much interest on this board for these types of legal scenarios, but legal crap has been a big thorn in my side in terms of operation an independent production house. working with artists really complicates things and i have had enough unclear band business arrangements to last a lifetime.

so after doing a bit of legal research a few things come up.

firstly, as i am the entity funding all of the recording sessions, paying players and providing the studio, typically i would be the sole owner of the master. it seems that if this is the customary situation then it should not be an issue at all if guest rappers are getting a piece of the writers share of publishing, but no interest in the master at all.

secondly, i still can't figure out how the hell this actually would get done on paper. I am guessing that i would do this...

COPYRIGHT
1)file an SR copyright for the instrumental(100% me)
2)file a seperate SR copyright for the finished track with vocals ( 50% me +50% main mc. no guest percentage on this)
3)mc's file SA copyright for their lyrics seperately 100% each.

PERFORMANCE RIGHTS
1)file w/ BMI agreed upon split for writers share e.g. 45% me, 45%primary, 10% guest mc
2)file w/BMI a seperate sheet for the instrumental if released 100% me.

MECHANICAL RIGHTS
I believe is automatically split between the registered SR copyright holder's without any special forms.

So in essence i would have a sideman agreement that would say:

mc x received a fee of __$ for his performance on this track. mc x will maintain ownership of his lyrics, and will receive 20% of the writers share of publishing for this track. mc x will have no right to the composition that his verse is being performed with and will have no rights to the master recording. All rights aside from the performance share will be held by the producer and the primary artist. MC x will receive no mechanicals and has no claim of ownership to the collaborative work ___.