Performing Rights Organizations

If you’re a songwriter and your songs are being played on the radio or internet, there may be income waiting for you.

Performing Rights Organizations (PROs) collect royalty payments on behalf of publishers and songwriters for public performances of their songs. Here’s how PROs work.

If you’re a songwriter, you have the exclusive right to publicly perform your song under Section 106 of the Copyright Act. However, it’s virtually impossible to know when your songs are being played and by whom. PROs were set up to remedy this problem. Songwriters (and publishers) sign up with a PRO, giving the PRO authority to collect public performance royalties on behalf of the songwriter. It turn, the PROs have licenses all across the country (and even beyond) with radio stations, internet radio providers, shopping malls, restaurants and anyone else who plays music in their establishment. The PROs collect money on behalf of the songwriter, take a small fee, and distribute the money to the songwriter.

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Mechanical Licenses for Song “Covers”

When a band or musician records and releases a “cover” of someone else’s published song, that band/musician generally falls under the the “Compulsory License” provisions in Section 115 of the Copyright Act. This is often referred to as a mechanical license. The mechanical license requires that the band/musician must pay the copyright owner of the song for each copy of the song that is distributed (e.g. CDs, digital downloads). The current rate is 9.1 cents per song, for each song under 5 minutes long.

Here are the steps for acquiring a mechanical license:

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