Frequently Asked Questions

Registration

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What is copyright?

Copyright gives an author the final say in the use of his compositions and lyrics. He may grant permission to make his creations public or to reproduce them. For this, he may demand a remuneration.

What is collective management?

In many cases the exploitation rights of authors are being exercised by so-called collecting societies, which are organizations that mediate between creators and users on the basis of government authorisation (exclusive of not). In this case, the authors transfer their rights to collecting societies of their own free will.

Is it legal to manage your own rights?

Everyone is free to manage his own rights. There is no law or regulation that obliges one to be a member of a collecting society.

What is the difference with collective management?

Under collective management authors have to transfer all their rights to collecting societies such as BUMA in the Netherlands, SGAE in Spain and ASCAP in the USA. This goes both for existing works and for future works. Not only does it take a long time before you get your remuneration, there are complex distribution codes for getting the money to the right people. If you offer your works on the website of VillaMusicRights you will be paid within a few working days. Another difference with collective management is that you make your works downloadable. The musical works and the rights are directly connected.

Why don’t home users pay?

The active consumer always finds a way to download music for free.  Furthermore, the cost of handling would be too high. Free and legal dwonloads  are also good for promotion. Commercial users have to pay. They earn money by using other people’s music.

Who are the commercial users?
 
VillaMusicRights will start out by trying to address internet radio stations. We want to make sure that our concept is working. For this purpose we think it’s best not to have all potential users as a target group.

Can I put my music on myspace, blogs, etc.?

That’s no problem. It is though necessary to send business users to VillaMusicRights.
Text suggestion: Downloading is free for home users. Business users may obtain licenses on payment of remuneration via www.villamusicrights.com.

Where is the recommended retail price of VillaMusicRights based on?

We know that commercial users are dissatisfied with the amount of money they have to pay to collecting societies. VillaMusicRights will therefore try to enter the market with a retail price that makes it attractive to acquire the rights to use the works through our website.
We assume that some musical works are perishable. That is why the songs are offered quarterly. More popular songs will be used several quarters.
By the way, our recommended retail price is a minimum price. If songs will get popular, the price will go up.

How will the remuneration be divided in case there is more than one author?

When there are two composers or one composer and one lyricist the division of the remuneration should be decided between them. VillaMusicRights is not interfering with this, and transfers the remuneration to a single bank account number, i.e. the one which the author or authors provide us with.

What are the revenues of VillaMusicRights?

VillaMusicRights receives for the cost of displaying, advising and transactions a percentage of the profits, namely 25% with a minimum of € 0,0625 per song. This amount is also due if the songs are offered for free to business users.

Why is VillaMusicRights not involved in neighbouring rights (of performing musicians)?

We want to make sure that are concept is working. That is why the activities of VillaMusicRights are limited to one part of this field, i.e. copy right law. Once the concept has proved itself we will expand our field of activities.

Why do authors have to have the full rights?

There’s a risk that composers who make remixes use parts of works exploited by collecting societies. VillaMusicRights will try to avoid complex discussions about payments to third parties- especially at the beginning.

What is the difference with Creative Commons?

Creative Commons is focuses fully on the online area, trying mainly tries to stimulate the legal use of music (and other creative works), but also their free use.

What does VillaMusicRights do in case of illegal use?

As a precaution the songs will be provided with a watermark, a technical marking that will help tracking. This is by the way a not a security measure.
This marking will not protect us from all problems. If music is used illegally (by commercial users), action can be taken. VillaMusicRights will support and advise in this. We also will ask composers and users to report illegal use.

What about tax aspects?

There is different regulation for composers in each country. In some cases they are considered to be entrepreneurs, which means that this type of regulation is also applicable to composers. In other countries remuneration for composers is part of income tax law.

 

What is VillaMusicRights?

The world of music copyright is evolving. Monopolies of collecting societies are under pressure. Composers complain about a lack of benefit, users about non-transparent and high tariffs. Why should you as a composer pay a membership fee to such an organization, when you have to fill in a lot of forms and get nothing or little in return? Why should you as a user pay such high tariffs? This can change.
• VillaMusicRights is a worldwide operating website for music authors (composers) and users of their musical works.
• VillaMusicRights provides a database on which music authors and lyricists make their works available together with the necessary licences.
• VillaMusicRights plays a role as a facilitator in the contacts between music authors and users. The authors grant home users permission to download these works for free. With commercial users special arrangements are made.
• VillaMusicRights provides advice on licences and rates. Composers and users all have to register in advance.
• Composers have to declare and guarantee that they are authorized to exercise copy rights regarding the musical works in question. Users have to declare not to perform or reproduce the musical works for any other use than specified.
• Payments between authors and business users are handled by VillaMusicRights which receives a commission in remuneration of the cost of display, advice and transactions.