Assignment of Copyright in Musical Composition | Canada

Obtain publishing rights for an original piece of music with this easy-to-use Music Publishing Agreement template for the USA and Canada.

• Transfer of Rights. A composer sells and transfers all of its right and title to an original musical composition (including copyright) to the music publisher, in return for a percentage royalty on the sales of printed sheet music and recordings, licensing fees and performance royalties.
• Changes and Derivations. The publisher has the right to edit, retitle, change and make derivative works of the composition.
• Indemnification. The composer indemnifies the publisher against any copyright infringement claims.
• The template includes a Short Form Copyright Assignment form.
• This Music Publishing Agreement template can be used in either the United States or Canada.

If you publish music jointly with another publisher, you need this standard form Co-Publishing Agreement for Musical Composition.

• Each of the co-publishers will own a half interest in ownership of the copyright.
• Each co-publisher will receive an equal share of the publishing receipts.
• The parties jointly assign public performance rights to BMI (Broadcast Music Inc.) and will share equally in the licensing fees.
• Downloadable, easy to use and much cheaper than a lawyer.
• This is a generic legal form that does not contain specific references to the legislation of any specific country or jurisdiction.

Music publishers can appoint agents in foreign markets with this Music Publishing Foreign Agency Agreement.

• The foreign agent agrees to act as the publisher's representative in foreign markets, to promote and market music (or musical recordings), negotiate deals and grant sub-publishing rights to third parties within such foreign markets.
• The agent will be paid a commission based on a percentage of sales and licensing fees received by the publisher.
• This is a generic legal form which is not specific to the laws of any country or region.

The Music Publishing Foreign Agency Agreement template is available in MS Word format, and is fully editable to meet your exact needs.

Share royalties from sales of music with this Royalty Sharing Agreement which can be used in the United States and Canada.

• The parties to the Agreement both have rights to the music, such as the composer and the publisher.
• The parties are entitled to be reimbursed for expenses incurred with respect to the composition.
• The music publisher will hold the copyright and will pay the other party the royalties due, less the publisher's costs and expenses.
• Both parties will be named in cover notes and credits, and any performance rights fees due with respect to the composition will be split between the parties.
• Buy and download the Royalty Sharing Agreement for Musical Composition digital template for your music industry contracts library.

License a master for use in a television broadcast or video with this Master Recording License.

• The composer of the music grants the producer of a television program a license to use the master recording in one or more episodes of the TV program, and in videos or other reproductions of the program.
• The license is a nonexclusive worldwide license to distribute a certain number of video and DVD recordings of the program.
• The producer can extend its distribution license to an unlimited number of copies by payment of additional license fees to the composer.
• The license does not extend to soundtrack albums or other recordings.

The Master Recording License for TV Broadcast or Video is a downloadable digital template which will be a valuable addition to your music contracts library.