[Fmpro] Using a foreign PRO for foreign Royalty Collections

[Mark Northam]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: fmpro-bounces+markn=gmocorp.com at nxport.com [mailto:fmpro-
> bounces+markn=gmocorp.com at nxport.com] On Behalf Of Josh Silver
> Sent: Thursday, July 03, 2008 1:51 AM
> To: fmpro at nxport.com
> Subject: [Fmpro] Using a foreign PRO for foreign Royalty Collections
> 
> This is a pretty interesting conversation and has raised some
> curiosity on my part about using foreign PRO's to collect foreign
> royalties for me.
> 
> I was until recently under the impression that the main reason to use
> a foreign PRO for foreign collections was to receive foreign royalties
> much faster than if I went through my domestic PRO (SOCAN) to collect
> my foreign royalties.  Now after reading the recent fmpro emails on
> this topic I am a little confused because I have been reading that
> using SACEM or GEMA for example to represent a composer for the
> territory of Europe would not only collect royalties faster, but also
> more accurately than my domestic PRO???  Am I understanding this
> correctly?
> 

A key issue is that the US PROs do not disclose the actual amounts payable
to you that are sent to them by foreign PROs. They list the amount AFTER any
and all deductions they choose to take. This lack of visibility to the
actual amounts paid to you by the foreign PROs is an invitation for trouble
and inaccuracy. Add to that the fact that the US PROs do not allow you to
speak directly to anyone at a foreign PRO (you have to go through your PRO -
you know, the same organization that won't list the amount originally paid
by the foreign PRO) and so there is no verification, no checks and balances,
just a single number on your statement and you can't even contact the people
who paid it.

Other countries, such as Ireland, do not take ANY deductions from foreign
PRO receipts for their members, and they pay electronically on a monthly
basis.  

Another interesting item is foreign payment representatives. The US PROs
allow Publishers to appoint them (they're called sub-publishers) and most
publishers do this, so their foreign royalties go from the foreign PRO
(which they don't have to be a member of) to the local subpublisher, then
directly to the publisher. Much faster than waiting for the money to filter
through the "society system" which is the only choice currently available to
writers who do not want to be hassled with all the red tape of multiple PRO
memberships around the world. Imagine if you could open an account with a
global financial services firm, say American Express. Then, imagine if in
the major royalty-paying countries, you could instruct the foreign PRO to
pay your royalties directly into your AMEX account in that country, and for
a small fee you'd not only get your money much faster, but you'd also see
the exact amount paid into your account with a paper trail. 

There is no reason writers should not be able to appoint foreign royalty
paymen reps to speeed through the process of getting paid. It's amazing, in
this technological age, that money should sit around in PRO accounts for
many months at a time (making interest for who???) instead of being
expeditiing to those whom it BELONGS TO - writers. But until composers are
ready to start demanding equal treatment from the PROs, we can expect more
of the same.

Best,

Mark Northam