wesmorrison

I am: a songwriter/arranger/"music producer." If I co-write songs with artists I am producing, is it possible under U.S. copyright law to split "song rights" versus "rights on the sale of the recording?" I'm simplifying/generalizing the above terms. There's a "C" copyright on the song (lyrics/melody) and a "P" copyright on the specific recording. That's the way one copyright lawyer I know put it simply. (I know about "producer points," too.) What I would like to do: 1) Let the artist profit as much as possible from the sales of the recording I produce for them, and their performance of same (whether it sells well or not, let them have this widely expected right.) That's the "P" copyright, I think. Publishing. 2) For any song I write/cowrite, preserve my right to profit from other artist's recordings of the song, or other royalties not associated with the original artist (for whom I produced a recording.) That's the "C" copyright on the song itself (lyrics/melody.) Right? E.g. I write 100% of a song, and arrange/produce it for an artist... They get 100% from sales of that recording, but if someone else records a cover of it, I get 100% of whatever is due. Or... I cowrite a song 50/50 with an artist, and arrange/produce it for them. They get 100% from sales of that recording, and 50% of whatever is due if someone else covers it. Make sense? Can that be arranged? This isn't necessarily the only way I'd want to split things. It depends on what the artist wants, but I'm trying to understand my options as a "music producer" who writes songs, not just arranges/produces them. I want to foster the artist's career while not "throwing away" important rights to songs I contribute to, if not fully write.