There is only a one-time registration fee of $50. The terms of our agreement include an eighteen month period. This period will auto-renew when the previous period expires but we will never keep your payment methods on file and never charge for an account renewal.
Our sign-up process is three simple steps. First, provide your name and an email address to create your account with ownrship. Then, fill out your songwriter information, and whether or not you have a publishing entity. This step is very important, if you do have an publishing entity setup with a PRO, we'll need that information too. Once your account is created, we'll need you to provide a street address, phone number and a tax ID number (in the US, this would be your Social Security Number or an Employment Identification Number (EIN), if you are incorporated).
Once you are set up with an account, you can register all your catalog through your portal. In the portal, provide us the information you have about each song and its writers. We don't require that the song be registered with a Performance Rights Organization. We recommend that you provide us with the most information possible, including the International Standard Recording Code (ISRC), if one exists, and the International Standard Music Works Code (ISWC) if the song has been assigned one. Currently, to submit bulk registrations, please email inquiries to support@ownrshiproyalties.com.
When you create a writer or publishing entity through your PRO, you are automatically assigned IPI numbers for these. This is most likely a separate number from your PRO's member ID. Most likely, you can find your IPI number on any statement or portal you have access to. If not, contact your PRO.
When you release your song through a label or independent distributor, it's assigned an ISRC (International Standard Recording Code). Since songs can often share titles, having a unique code attached to a song's recording is a useful tool for societies to track the usages, there are various public ISRC databases available online, or you can contact your distributor or label partner.
When you register your song with a Performance Rights Organization (PRO) like ASCAP or BMI, they assign the composition an ISWC (International Standard Musical Work Code). Similar to ISRCs, these unique identifiers are necessary for tracking uses and collecting earnings for your songs. ISWCs are a combination of 11 letters and numbers, and are separate from PRO Work ID's. You can find your composition's ISWC if it's already registered at your PRO.
In order to receive the funds that are collected on your behalf, you are required to provide us with a tax form, depending on what territory you reside in (in the US this would be an IRS W9 form), and a bank account or PayPal account. To receive the money via direct deposit in the US, you only need to provide the bank's routing number and your account number. If the name on the account does not match the name on your account, you may have to contact us for further verification. International deposits are possible, but further routing information is required and the fees for international distribution of funds is higher than they are in the US.
We pay quarterly. However, our third party payment service charges a $1 fee for distribution, and for this reason, we have a $50 threshold on payments. This is so that this fee doesn't exceed 2% of your distribution amount. Your balance will automatically be distributed if you are over this threshold.
It can often take nine to twelve months for the first royalties to be accounted for. Unfortunately, this is out of our control. Our network of global collection societies operate on a quarterly basis. We are constantly working to make this process faster.
We are proud to be upfront about our fees. We only take a 15% fee of the royalties that we collect for you. There is no annual fee. We try to limit the amount of outside partners we involve in your collections. Unfortunately, it is impossible to not use certain partners in this process. We are constantly trying to negotiate for the lowest possible costs for our users.
These collections can only be made one organization at a time. If you are in an exclusive agreement with another publisher or organization, that agreement would have to end before you can start collecting with ownrship. Some publishing agreements may only apply to specific songs in your catalog. In this case, any songs that are not currently represented by a third party publisher can be registered with ownrship.