Kohn on Music Licensing

Whether you are a music publisher or songwriter looking to maximize the value of your music catalog, or a producer, ad agency, or internet music service seeking to clear music rights for products, performances, and other uses, let the authors who have over 70 years of hands-on experience take you through the various music licensing processes, type-by-type and step-by-step. In clear, coherent language, they provide detailed explanations of the many kinds of music licenses, identify the critical issues addressed in each, and offer valuable strategy and guidance to both rights owners and prospective licensees.

Kohn on Music Licensing, Fourth Edition:

• Walks the reader through the history of the music publishing business, from Tin Pan Alley to the user-generated content phenomena of the present.
• Dissects the songwriter agreement, providing the reader with a clause-by-clause analysis and offering the best negotiating strategies to achieve the best possible outcome for their clients.
• Guides the reader through the complexities of co-publishing agreements, administration agreements, and international subpublishing agreements, with a report on the rapidly changing music licensing landscape in Europe.
• Takes on the intricacies of licensing music in sound recordings, from the traditional CD format to the newer delivery methods, including downloads, streams, ringtones and ringbacks—including the rates and terms used in the U.S., Canada and the United Kingdom.
• Confronts the pitfalls of licensing music for audiovisual works (synchronization licenses) using history as a guide, from the early talkies through streaming internet content.
• Explores new media and its impact on the licensing process. Technological developments have forced the industry to rethink licenses when dealing with videogames, computer software, karaoke, and digital print (including downloadable sheet music, lyric database websites, and digital guitar tabs..
• Sizes up the digital sampling controversy and offers up suggestions for negotiating licenses for digital samples.
• Explores the ever-evolving concept of Fair Use and its application to the music industry.
• Provides the reader with a look at the landscape of licensing fees, including “going rates” for synch, print, radio & TV advertising, new media, and other licenses, to assist in negotiating the best rates for their clients.

Proven tips and suggestions, along with the most up-to-date analysis, are given for the technical aspects of music licensing, from the perspective of both the rights owners and prospective licensees, including

• How to "clear" a license
• Advice on maximizing the value of your music copyrights
• Formalities of licensing
• Duration of copyright, renewal and termination of grants
• Typical fees
• And more

Turn to this valuable resource for more than 160 forms and sample license agreements available on the companion CD-ROM.