(Photo by Alena Darmel from Pexels) What is a Performing Rights Organization? A Performing Rights Organizations (PROs) are groups of companies that help songwriters and publishers collect royalties (money) from their copyrights. They help the song copyright owners (primarily songwriters/publishers) calculate and then distribute the royalties from all of the different venues, platforms, companies where their music is played or used. These royalties are typically paid every quarter in the United States. For songs with multiple writers, the PROs will distribute the agreed upon percentages specified for each songwriter. For information about royalties, check out my previous blog post here ( link ) Songwriters can register with one the PRO and publishers register individually with each PRO their artist is represented by. There are PROs worldwide for the different countries/territories copyright law. In the United States, there are three major PROs: BMI, ASCAP, and SESAC. BMI (Broadcast Mus
(Photo by Dziana Hasanbekava from Pexels) Do you need to register your copyright? While authors and creators are not explicitly required to register their copyright, it is highly recommended if you want to receive to protect your copyright when faced with infringement. In other words, no you do not have to register. But, if your work is stolen without registering your work with the copyright office, you cannot take legal action in U.S. courts. Once your work is fixed in a tangible medium (or perceptible with the aid of machine or device) your copyright is protected. But as mentioned previously, you cannot start an infringement lawsuit without registration. It is in your best interest to register your work as soon as you can so you are eligible for all the rights and possible legal action. For example, your copyright must be registered within three months of publication if you would like to be eligible for statutory damages up to $150,000 and attorney's fees pertaining to the infri