HFA Songfile/Royalty question

[JonPaulP]

For anyone who has used the Harry Fox Agency (HFA) Songfile system before, if they can only license a certain percentage of a song (i.e., 40% of a given song), what are you supposed to do and how are you supposed to pay royalties? The same goes for songs unlicensed by the HFA.

 

Are you supposed to contact the publishing company and send royalty payments by mail? I thought HFA was a good service since it takes care of the payments online, but if I have to send seperate payments to different publishers for one song, that makes everything a little more complicated!

 

By the way, I've noticed this in a lot of song searches: COPYRIGHT CONTROL (NON-HFA)

 

What is that?

 

Thanks!

[daddymack]

You pay the same if you cover the entire song, or use a recognizable portion of it....I know BlueStrat had to get a mechanical to use part of the Simpson's theme (by Danny Elfman)...what you think there is some kind of sliding scale?

"I only want to use 9 notes from the score, and the original recorded version has 9000, so I should only pay .1%..."

The Non-HFA means that another agenecy controls their licensing.

[JonPaulP]

You pay the same if you cover the entire song, or use a recognizable portion of it....I know BlueStrat had to get a mechanical to use part of the Simpson's theme (by Danny Elfman)...what you think there is some kind of sliding scale? "I only want to use 9 notes from the score, and the original recorded version has 9000, so I should only pay .1%..." The Non-HFA means that another agenecy controls their licensing.

 

LOL, that's not what I meant.

 

I just found out that for many songs, the HFA only controls the license for a certain percentage of a song.

 

For example, if you were the search the song "Falling Slowly" by Glen Hansard, it would say: "% Licensable through Songfile: 70.0%". So, it means you can buy 70% of the license through songfile, but then you'll have to pay for the other 30% elsewhere.

 

Now, if songfile can only license 20% of a given song, and there are 3 other publishers listed as having the rest of the percentages, that would get confusing figuring out how to pay royalties!?

[BlueStrat]

 

LOL, that's not what I meant. I just found out that for many songs, the HFA only controls the license for a certain percentage of a song. For example, if you were the search the song "Falling Slowly" by Glen Hansard, it would say: "% Licensable through Songfile: 70.0%". So, it means you can buy 70% of the license through songfile, but then you'll have to pay for the other 30% elsewhere. Now, if songfile can only license 20% of a given song, and there are 3 other publishers listed as having the rest of the percentages, that would get confusing figuring out how to pay royalties!?

 

 

You can almost always find the publishers through either ASCAP or BMI database.

[BlueStrat]

Thank you for this information. In relation to entertainment industry, Wanda Sykes, a comedienne extraordinaire, was among the keynote speakers at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner, and she made annotations that caused hullabaloo. (See: http://personalmoneystore.com/moneyblog/2009/05/24/wanda-sykes-huge-cash-advance/ ) She said that conservative pundit Rush Limbaugh was one of the hijackers on 9/11 but missed his flight due to being strung out on Oxycontin. Obama has distanced himself from the remarks, and some speculate it might cost her some money out of cancelled performances, but she isn't likely to need an online cash advance soon. Blue comedy is one thing, but these remarks are surely insensitive to say the least. Some are calling for Wanda Sykes to do a little credit repair after the unpleasant incident.