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Q: I signed 3 of my songs in the early 1980s to a publisher that has since gone out of business and disappeared. Does that mean that these songs revert back to me? Please explain a reversion clause, and if I do not have one, but the publisher is out of business, what happens?
A: Just because a publisher goes out of business, does NOT mean that your songs revert back to you. Not unless such a clause was included in your original contract, which it probably was not. However, most of the time if a publisher goes out of business, he will sell his company and reassign his copyrights to that company. You need to research and see if the songs have been reassigned; if SO, there is a chance you might be able to talk the new holders into reverting the songs back to you. There's a chance they will, if they are not producing much income.
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Josh Whitmore's Do's and Don'ts when hiring a producer for your project:
1. Do meet several times with a prospective producer. Ask him/her any and ALL questions you have.
2. Do listen to that producer's work! See if you can envision that producer doing YOUR style of music.
3. Do CHECK HIM/HER OUT! Ask around, get that person's "rep."
4. Do get references from the producer, and call ALL of them. If the producer gets a little grumpy when you ask for this, leave him in the dust! No legitimate producer minds such background checks, believe me.
5. Don't pay a producer a "flat fee" for "doing a record"....instead, insist on being privy to ALL the book keeping of your sessions; after all, YOU are paying for it. See where every penny goes; I severely disapprove of those deals where a producer says "give me 25,000 and I'll give you a record, with my fee included."
6. Don't hire a producer who does your sessions "in house"....this usually means he uses a limited stable of in house musicians, and I suggest you don't do that.
7. Don't hire a producer based solely on what he has done in the past....his track record does not necessarily mean he will produce YOUR type of music successfully.
8. Don't hire a producer who does not feel passionately about your music! This is MOST important. A lukewarm producer is no producer, in my opinion. and most importantly.....
9. Don't hire a producer who promises you promotion, a place on the indie charts, radio airplay, or ANYthing more than delivering a product to you. If someone tells you "for an additional 5,000 we can send your record out to 1000 radio stations and get it played," walk away.