2 ms·

For a cover you need a mechanical license https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mechanical_license https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mechanical_license In the US under the

by dhosek 6y ago

For a cover you need a mechanical license https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mechanical_license https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mechanical_license In the US under the compulsory license scheme, it's a fixed fee per copy or stream (with a minimum licensing fee). It's been a long time since I've looked into this (in the pre-streaming era) but back in those days it was around $.30 per copy. In the US, this is mostly handled through the Harry Fox Agency. I just peaked at their pricing page and there's a lot more categories than their were back in the 90s. https://www.harryfox.com/#/rate-charts https://www.harryfox.com/#/rate-charts

jasomill 6y ago
Interesting that the per-copy fee for "Ringtones" (24¢) is much higher than the fee for "Permanent Digital Downloads" (9.1¢). IIRC, personal, non-commercial "public performances" of recordings as mere ringtones are exempt from public performance royalties under US law, so there appear to be no material additional rights granted by a ringtone sale vs. an ordinary digital download. So I guess what the extra 14.9¢ buys you is the right to automatically insert the recording into the purchaser's mobile phone's "ringtone" list? Curious.