Reminder: we’re improving the accuracy of your MCPS royalties

As previously mentioned in our July newsletter, we are making changes to ensure the correct member is paid in our distributions. We will identify the owner of the music at the time of usage, rather than at the time of invoicing. This change will come into effect from 29 September.

How will it work?

We will apply a usage date (based on when the usage occurred) to the copyright data held in ICE to calculate who should receive the physical mechanical royalties.

You will receive royalties if

- You were the work publisher when the music was used and distribution made
- You were the work publisher when the music was used and, even though your rights have now expired, you had post-term collection rights (to receive income generated during the period of ownership) at the time of distribution

You will not receive royalties if

- You were the publisher for the work when the music was used but the deal and your post term collection rights have expired (or you had none) at the time of distribution

Application of usage dates

The usage date applied will be dependent on the information provided and the licensing scheme we are processing. In most cases we are processing usage for a whole period (i.e. a quarter) and will therefore apply the last date of that period; this covers quarterly sales process (i.e. AP1 scheme), CLA (central licensing) and foreign income. The invoice date will be applied for on-manufacture licensing schemes.

What do I need to do?

You need to ensure that your agreement data is registered with ICE to ensure payments are calculated correctly. You need to:

- Make sure the start date of your agreement is promptly registered (we appreciate you may not be able to provide an end date or any post-term collection date when registering a new agreement)
- Reduce unnecessary counterclaims and terminate agreements in a timely fashion. You do not need to wait until you have received all of your royalties for the ownership period before you terminate your agreement
- State what collection rights you have when terminating an agreement or end of retention period
- Provide the correct agreement numbers in your work registrations

When will this happen?

The new rules will be applied to all MCPS recorded media invoices raised after 29 September.

Changes will be noticeable depending on when a specific royalty stream is processed. As a guide:

- Foreign income: from October 2016 distribution
- Sales invoiced quarterly (for Q3): from November 2016 distribution
- CLA (central licensing agreement) and Quarterly Supplementary: from December 2016 distribution

Please note that joint Broadcast royalties are excluded from this change as they are both processed and distributed through the PRS Distribution and Membership (D&M) system. This is under a joint PRS and MCPS licensing scheme.

Please contact publisherquery@prsformusic.com if you have any queries.