FAQs: Work Registrations for Mechanical Rights

Q1. Why does the collective management organization pay 100% of reproduction royalties to the publisher?

Because in most publishing agreements, the publisher is the legal copyright owner of the reproduction rights. Legally, the collective management organization must pay the registered rightsholder, which is almost always the publisher.

Q2. Does that mean the writer does not get paid?

No. The writer still gets paid, but the payment flows through the publisher, who then distributes the writer’s share according to the publishing contract (e.g., 50/50, 75/25).

Q3. Why can’t the organization split the payment directly between writer and publisher for reproduction rights?

For public performance rights, payments are often split between the writer and publisher.
However, for reproduction rights, the payment must follow the legal ownership declared in the work registration. This rule has become the standard industry practice worldwide. If the publisher is registered as holding 100% of the reproduction rights, SOCAN is legally required to pay 100% to that publisher.

Q4. What if the publisher also has an administrator who is supposed to collect all royalties on their behalf? How should registrations be set up?

Sometimes, a publisher may be the owner but may have a different Administrator who collects and distributes the mechanical shares on their behalf. The publisher should still list themselves on the registration with 100% Mechanical share however, they should also submit documentation (such as a Letter of Direction) indicating that there is an agreement with the Administrator to collect the royalties on their behalf. SOCAN will set up this agreement in our system to ensure the royalties earned by the publisher are sent to the Administrator. This will be visible when viewing your registrations in the Member Portal.

Q5. What happens if the work is registered incorrectly?

Incorrect registration can cause:

• Delayed payments.
• Payments sent to the wrong rightsholder.
• Disputes between parties.
• Manual reprocessing.

Accurate registration is essential for accurate processing.

Q6. How should ownership be declared in a work registration?
The work registration must reflect actual legal ownership:

• If the publisher holds 100% of reproduction rights, the Publisher Share must show 100% ownership.
• If the writer is self-published, they must treat themselves as both writer and publisher and claim 100% of their mechanical share as the reproduction rightsholder.

Q7. I’m self-published. Do I need to declare myself as publisher?

No, without a publisher, you are by default self-published, and you should claim 100% of your mechanical share as the reproduction rightsholder.

Need Help?

Open a New "Support Request" Case in your member portal.

How to Submit a Case in the Member Portal

Email us at: members@socan.com or call the Membership Team at 1-866-307-6226