Luke McMillan Music

Anyone requesting an arrangement of a previously recorded and published musical composition (i.e. a rock tune, concert band tune, movie/television show soundtrack, etc.) is responsible for getting clearance through the publisher of the composition. If you’ve never done this before, it might seem like an intimidating process, but most people find that it’s fairly easy once it is completed, and I will help you as much as I can.

Here are some easy steps for getting this process started.

 First of all, you might be in luck if your project is in the Public Domain, which means that the copyright protection has lapsed on the work and you are free to use it in any way that you wish. Copyright law is very complicated, but generally, any work that was written and published prior to January 1st, 1923, is now in the public domain. A list of popular public domain works can be found here: http://www.pdinfo.com.

You must be very careful in the determining whether a work is in the public domain, because if you are wrong, you may be liable for copyright infringement. Consult an entertainment lawyer if you have any questions on whether or not your work is in the public domain.

Okay, so you know now that your project is NOT in the public domain. Let’s get started getting the copyright clearance.

First, find out who the author and publisher are for your work. You can do this by searching for your work through one of these three websites:

http://www.ascap.com/ace/search.cfm?mode=search

http://bmi.com/search/

http://www.sesac.com/aboutsesac/search.aspx

Start with the first link and try to search by artist. If you can’t find the artist name, search for the work by the title, and if you still can’t find it, switch to the next website. Once you’ve found the work you’re looking for, bookmark the page. If you’ve gone through all three websites and still can’t find the work you are looking for, start over and look for alternate artist or song names. For example, you might change the artist name from “BOB” to “ROBERT”, take out the “THE” or “A” at the beginning of the song title etc. If you still have no luck in your search, contact me and I will help you.

Now that you have the author and publisher name, go to the FAQ on the Hal Leonard copyright page at http://www.halleonard.com/permissions/ and see if your publisher is listed. Hal Leonard holds the print rights to a lot of music, and the chance that you’ll find your publisher listed there is fairly high. If it is, you’re in luck. Hal Leonard has an easy online form to fill out to submit your request for a "permission to arrange" license, that can be found at http://www.halleonard.com/permissions/

If the Hal Leonard website does not list your publisher, go back to the search page that you bookmarked earlier. Under the publisher information, there is usually a phone number. Give them a call, and tell them that you need to speak to someone in licensing. They might ask you if you’re requesting a MECHANICAL or SYNCHRONIZATION license. Yours is neither-- tell them you’re requesting a PRINT license. You should get put through to the right person, and they will walk you through the appropriate steps.

You’re probably wondering, “What’s this going to cost?”

Every publisher is different, but from my experience, the arrangement license for popular music is usually between $100 and $200 per tune, and classical works, concert band works, and some movie soundtracks are in the $250 to $300 per tune range. Every publisher is different; yours might cost a lot less, or a lot more.

If you don’t feel comfortable taking care of this yourself, or you just don’t have the time, there are professionals who can take care of the entire process for you, act as your liaison with the publisher, and do the leg work necessary to get your arrangement license. One such company is CopyCat Licensing, which can be found online at http://www.copycatlicensing.com Please note, their fees do not include the arrangement license fee that is due to the actual music publisher.

The topic of copyright clearance can be convoluted and frustrating at times, but I hope this information cleared up any myths or confusion on the topic. Please feel free to contact me with any questions.

Luke

The topic of copyright clearance can be convoluted and frustrating at times, but I hope this information clears up any myths or confusion on the topic. Please feel free to contact me with any questions.