Foreign Placement Payment Taking Forever

[erock]

I placed a song in a Russian TV show with a reputable library in December 2011. I was told at the time that it could take a bit to get the back end, given that it was foreign. The library filed the cue sheet in the US and the company did in Russia. As of May 2012 we were going to wait a year (!) and re-check.

I inquired on the status last month and heard this:

“Unfortunately, the cue sheets got kicked back to us by the US PRO’s due to discrepancies in the language (the cue sheets were provided to us in Russian). We are working on a fix for this. I had also submitted the cue sheets directly to Russia’s PRO, but I’m not sure if they have processed them or not. Generally, all foreign uses take quite a while to complete (sometimes up to 2 years), and this will obviously slow things down a bit further.”

Does this seem right? I can’t think of another business it takes two years to get paid in.

Thanks!

[composer]

While I can’t speak to this particular placement, I can say that foreign placements generally do take a long time to show up. I often see foreign royalties on my BMI statement 4-8 quarters after the placement.

[Tbone]

Some of my foreign placements haven’t shown after a year, and they were supposed to arrive after 6 months. It’s really uncertain as to when you’ll get them – if at all..

[erock]

Ok, thanks for the confirmation. I understand there are many cogs in the machine, but it seems like a long time. I guess I should be happy interest rates are near zero? 🙂

[Author]

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