Download The Score - A practical guide to

A practical guide to collecting
GRAND RIGHTS
As traditional means of income fall (most notably mechanical revenues), writers and
publishers are looking to capitalise on alternative sources. There are certain aspects in the
management of Grand Rights which make them mysterious to some, but overall it is a
simple concept.
The Grand Right is the right reserved for the creator of dramatico-musical material. The
Grand Right only exists in a musical work which is written specifically for a particular
dramatic usage, whether that is opera; a stage musical; or a ballet production. Or, by
way of explanation, another more amusing definition might be: “A musical performance
whereby if it takes place in costume and you can throw something at it, there’s a Grand
Right.”
The Grand Right belongs with the author of the musical work and indeed, it is very
valuable. Protected by the writer not only because it can be a very lucrative income
stream, but also by its nature, the composition is used in a specific dramatic context.
This way the creator would more often than not require a greater deal of control and
approval over it.
Maybe surprisingly, Grand Rights are not included in the UK’s Copyright Act. Grand
Rights are borne out of practice and convention: they are the product of an industry, as
opposed to a statutory definition. It is the same with ‘Dramatico Musical Work’. There
exists a definition for a ‘Dramatic Work’ and a ‘Musical Work’ but not a ‘Dramatico Musical
Work’. This probably explains why there is sometimes debate about what constitutes a
Grand Right and Grand Rights’ usage.
PRS for Music does not license the Grand Right – it remains with the writer and/or
publisher. Historically, collecting societies were set up to license rights and collect income
where the writer was unable to do it themselves. More often a writer was able to deal on a
one-to-one basis with a theatre company/producer, so PRS for Music was therefore not
required.
ARE GRAND RIGHTS INCLUDED IN PUBLISHING CONTRACTS?
Publishing agreements in the past did not include Grand Rights. They typically covered
‘small rights’ but Grand Rights are nowadays more regularly included in British
publishing contracts and it is often the case that a songwriter would have to fight to get
them removed. In America the situation is different – usually as part of the inclusion of
the phrase ‘in all rights throughout the world’ it is deemed that Grand Rights would
automatically be covered.
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A GRAND RIGHT AND GRAND RIGHTS
USAGE?
According to the Music Publishers Association (MPA), a Grand Right exists in a work that
has been specially written for dramatic performance, whereas a Grand Right ‘usage’ is
where a ‘small right’ (those typically belonging to the writer and publisher in a song) is
being used in a dramatico-musical context or presentation. The MPA is currently looking
deeper into this situation and how definitions are being toyed with depending on different
stage productions – it will reveal its findings in the coming months.
JUKEBOX MUSICALS – EXAMPLES OF GRAND RIGHTS ‘USAGE’
The growing grey area is ‘Jukebox Musicals’ – musicals which have a narrative arc and
heavily feature songs, but not songs which were specifically written for ‘dramatico’
purposes, eg Mamma Mia!, We Will Rock You and Jersey Boys. In the case of these
presentations there has been the inclusion of a dramatic, narrative arc which requires the
inclusion of those songs, therefore giving the writer the entitlement to call for a Grand
Right.
In most cases PRS for Music has the rights to license the rights for those popular music
songs, but it has introduced a variant to its articles (7F) which allows songwriters to
semi-withdraw the rights to negotiate a Grand Right with the theatre producer. The
songs are then treated as quasi-Grand Rights in that PRS for Music will continue to
collect the income based on the performing (small) right, but the writer is clear to
negotiate directly with a theatre production company or producer.
By way of example, Queen control their own Grand Rights and license their music to the
We Will Rock You show as Grand Rights ‘usage’, despite the songs having not been
written in the first place for dramatic presentation.
Obtaining Grand Rights ‘usage’ for ‘Jukebox Musicals’ is complicated by the fact that
there might be a number of writers and publishers responsible for the songs.
GRAND RIGHTS VS SMALL RIGHTS
It has been said that occasionally it might make sense for the writer to license their
music as a ‘small right’ to theatre producers therefore allowing PRS for Music to
automatically license it and collect performance income, rather than strike a Grand
Rights deal.
If the music is licensed as a Grand Right ‘usage’ and the publisher who brokered the
deal collects the income from the theatre, the income might be used to offset any
advance the writer has received from the publisher.
If the writer does not have Grand Rights written into their contract, PRS for Music can
treat the usage as a small right and therefore collect the 50 per cent share (on the basis
of a 50:50 per cent publisher/writer split) of the performance income that is owed to them.
WHAT DO GRAND RIGHTS EARN?
There are normally three recipients of Grand Rights income: the composer of the music,
the lyricist and the writer of the narrative (script/book etc).
There seems to be a conventional split: between 2-3 per cent each of gross box office
takings totalling something between 6-9 per cent. By way of comparison, if you have a
stage show with small rights usage – that is, a concert – the royalty tariff is 3 per cent of
box office rising to 4.8 per cent for classical concerts. Incidentally, it is thought the
Palladium in London would aim to make £400,000 a week in box office takings.
This has recently opened a whole can of worms as to what is regarded to be the ‘box
office’ or ‘gross box office takings’. Is it net after production costs or is it gross taken
direct from the box office? According to PRS chair Guy Fletcher, negotiating what
exactly are ‘box office takings’ can depend upon the experience and status of the writer.
Theatre producers these days are more and more operating a ‘royalty pool’ ensuring that
production costs are taken off the gross box office sum before anyone gets Grand Rights
payments. Production costs might include choreographers, costume designers and
make-up artists, who have all been given a ‘point’ by the director – a future percentage
of income with little by way of upfront payments in order to stage the production as
cheaply as possible. This will significantly reduce the Grand Rights payment figure.
It has also been suggested that it is common for 65 per cent of a big stage production’s
takings (after production costs) to normally go to the producers of the show, while the
remaining 35 per cent will be allocated to the royalty pool on a pro-rata or point basis.
It is also possible to license your Grand Rights for a one-off flat fee. For example, if you
are self-published or have a deal in place with a small publisher and you are approached
by a small operation outside the UK, you might feel that weekly administration of income
based on box office or royalty pool is too laborious. In those instances, there might be a
case for one-off licensing.
BASING STAGE WORKS/OPERA/BALLET ON LITERARY WORKS
In the instance where a ‘Stage Work’/’Opera’/’Ballet’ is based on a specific literary work,
the division of Grand Rights works as follows: Publisher/Composer/Librettist (Opera) –
unless the writer writes their own Libretto/Original Writer. They would expect a split of
gross box office takings minus VAT.
The composer Stephen McNeff, for example, based his 2004 opera Clockwork on the
writings of Philip Pullman. It was a major success at the Linbury Studio Theatre at the
Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. McNeff says that when he is offered a commission
for an opera, his publishers will ask what he intends to base the opera on. If he draws from
source material which is in the public domain he says “champagne corks pop,” however, if
he wants to work with a ‘living’ writer he says a series of protracted negotiations end up
taking place with either their literary publisher or that writer’s estate. This can sometimes
cause delays or difficulties.
GRAND RIGHT LICENSING
Depending on the level of production, a Grand Rights licensing deal can change. A huge
West End production or Royal Opera House show is obviously treated differently to
music that might feature in a school or university performance. The deal depends on the
kind of production and how central the music is to it. On the plus side, Grand Rights
payments come swiftly and quickly – sometimes weekly, if not monthly.
PROFIT-SHARE ARRANGEMENTS ON ANCILLARY RELEASES
It is becoming increasingly more frequent that a producer will ask the publisher/writer to
enter into a profit-sharing deal when putting together a DVD release of a production, for
example. Writers/publishers are warned that where you cannot control expenses/costs
of such projects and there is no guarantee as to the transparency of money spent, it is
probably wise not to enter into such arrangements.
© BASCA