Topic
A record advance is paid back out of your royalty share, not your bank account, so at a 20% royalty a $50,000 advance needs about $250,000 of revenue before you see another cent. Here is the arithmetic, what cross-collateralization and recoupable costs do to it, and what to negotiate before you sign.
Industryvia UK Competition and Markets Authority
US law sets aside 5% of SoundExchange digital radio royalties for backing musicians and singers, and the AFM & SAG-AFTRA Fund pays it out whether or not you are in a union. Here is who qualifies, how the money is split, and how to check the unclaimed list.
Industryvia AFM & SAG-AFTRA Intellectual Property Rights Distribution Fund
Articles 18 to 22 of the EU's 2019 copyright directive give songwriters and performers a right to proportionate pay, a yearly report on what their work earned, a claim for more when a deal turns out lopsided, and a way to take back rights that sit unused. The rules are real, but each country wrote its own version, and most of it only works if you ask.
Artist rightsvia EUR-Lex, Publications Office of the European Union
The US Copyright Claims Board lets you pursue an infringement claim of up to $30,000 online, without a lawyer, for a $100 filing fee. It only works if your song is registered (or at least applied for), the other side is in the US, and they choose not to opt out.
Artist rightsvia Copyright Claims Board
In the US, a prompt on its own does not make you the author of what an AI generates. Lyrics, melodies, performances, edits and creative arrangement you made yourself can still be registered, as long as you claim your part and disclose the AI part on the form.
Artist rightsvia U.S. Copyright Office
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