Direct licensing question

[jhewitt79]

Hey everyone,

I’m newish here so I hope this is the correct forum. I recently licensed an instrumental track of mine directly to a company that plans to use it for a broadcast TV commercial and radio spot in at least one major US market. They will use 30 seconds for TV and 30s & 60s for radio. Should I expect to see anything from BMI (My PRO) for this usage? If so, who pays that money to BMI? I don’t want the customer to have to pay an ongoing fee.

Thanks,

Jim

[Art Munson]

Your customer is not required to pay any royalties. The term “royalty free” is a misnomer. Most TV channels (but not all) and radio stations pay a yearly blanket license fee to the PROs. Depending on the time of day and channel/station you will be paid a royalty from that license fee by your PRO.

[jhewitt79]

Thanks, Art. That’s what I assumed but wanted to be sure.

[Author]

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