The record companies are required to pay any accrued royalties into the Licensing Trust for ownership shares that remain unidentified or unlicensed 150 days after the release of the product in question. Based on CSI’s review of the Licensing Trust royalty files, we have found that royalties are being paid into the trust for the following reasons:
- Unknown Ownership – where the copyright owner remains unidentified, or an identified copyright owner has not yet registered his/her ownership share with CMRRA or SODRAC, or with the record company through a direct licence;
- Ownership Disputes – where a conflicting claim results in a dispute situation involving CMRRA and/or SODRAC and/or a direct licensor, the record companies will pay all related royalties into the Licensing Trust from the time they are notified of the dispute. As agreed between CSI, SODRAC and the record companies, the 150 day period does not apply in these cases.
- Rejected Licences – the record companies may reject the licences issued to them by CMRRA or SODRAC based on a disagreement over the royalty rate or applicability of the licence; CSI has also identified that there are some technical issues that can result in licences being rejected, and we have taken steps to address these issues to prevent the unnecessary accumulation of rejected licences.