Why your works might be listed multiple times

You may notice that some works appear several times under 'My works'. You don’t need to worry, but we wanted to explain why.

Each time you register or amend a work with us it creates a new entry. This is to stop works being incorrectly overwritten and ensure the right royalties are being paid to the right people.

If you check your works under 'My works', some might be listed multiple times with slight variations. This often leads to requests to merge these multiple entries into one listed work. 

What works can be merged?

When you request a merge of your works we check whether the work is active, this means that it’s earning royalties (or is soon to be) and meets certain thresholds. We process active works above €10 (or €15 in peak months).

Only active works which meet these thresholds can be updated or merged with others listed. The reason for this is merging works requires manual updates (which comes at a cost), so it’s important time on active works is prioritised to best serve our members and ensure they’re getting paid as quickly as possible.

Who does this affect?

Whether you’re a writer or publisher, works must be active to be merged.  

Can a work ever be merged if it’s inactive?

There are some instances where a work can be merged even if it’s not currently active. This is mainly when the details of the work are wrong on the database and this has prevented royalties being paid out correctly in the past (when the work was active). Or, when a licence e.g. a sync licence, is dependent on the merge.

It’s important that you make clear the reason(s) as to why your inactive works should be merged when you make the request as they are reviewed on a case-by-case basis.

If you’re unsure about whether your work needs to be updated, check the FAQs in the case portal and if you still have questions, log in and raise a case.