APRA|AMCOS and RightsFlow – a provider of bulk mechanical licensing and royalty services – announced today an agreement that will allow RightsFlow to identify Australian and New Zealand works based upon their clients master record content. The project will ensure that digital royalties owed to Australian songwriters for transactions in the US will be accounted for and paid through to the Australasian rights holders.
The agreement grants RightsFlow access to the APRA|AMCOS database to search Australia and New Zealand works and identify specific songwriters and publishers. This will enable RightsFlow to identify the relevant US administrative body and seek licences through the Harry Fox Agency or directly with US publisher entities.
“Our members have told us that clearances for digital mechanicals in the USA can be complicated. Weve sought to address their concerns by entering into this arrangement with RightsFlow in order to make that process easier for Australian and New Zealand composers,” said Scot Morris – APRA|AMCOSs Director of International Relations.
RightsFlows proprietary mechanical licensing ‘FLOW system is built to license, account, and pay publisher royalties for DPD, interactive streams and limited downloads, including subscription and ad-supported models. The inclusion of the APRA|AMCOS agreement will ensure that Australian writers can be accurately identified and accounted to through the appropriate US representative.
Under U.S. Copyright Law, mechanical licenses are required for music to be distributed through online music services. The current U.S. statutory mechanical rate for permanent downloads is 9.1¢ for songs five minutes or less and 1.75¢ per minute for songs over five minutes. Limited download and interactive streaming services generally pay a mechanical royalty of 10.5 percent of revenue, less amounts owed for performance royalties. To ensure publishers and songwriters are properly compensated under U.S. law, RightsFlows licensing service utilizes the bulk licensing system of The Harry Fox Agency, Inc. (HFA), a leading U.S. music rights licensing organization, as well as bulk licensing systems used by the thousands of publishers not represented by HFA.
http://www.apra-amcos.com.au/news/APRAAMCOSnews/NewagreementwithRightsFlow.aspx