How are royalties handled for modern orchestral music?
<p>I'm curious how royalties are handled for orchestral compositions (e.g. symphonies, concerti, quartets, etc.) in modern times (20th Century and later).</p>
<p>For example, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dmitri_Shostakovich" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Dmitri Shostakovich's</a> compositions are presumably still under copyright in Western Europe and the USA, since it's been less than 75 years since his death, and all his compositions were published after January 1, 1923.</p>
<p>(I'm picking Shostakovich in particular since I've grown fond of his symphonies, concerti, and other works in the past few years and have amassed a collection of CD's and digital downloads of many recordings and performances.  His body of work would presumably fall under current copyright laws internationally, e.g. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berne_Convention" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Berne Convention</a>, etc. since all his compositions were published in the 20th Century.)</p>
<p>First example:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.andre-previn.com/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">André Previn</a> conducts a studio performance of Shostakovich's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symphony_No._8_%28Shostakovich%29" rel="nofollow noreferrer">8th Symphony</a> with the <a href="http://lso.co.uk/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">London Symphony Orchestra</a>, recorded for EMI/Angel records.  The record label <a href="https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/com/B0013F46YW" rel="nofollow noreferrer" rel="nofollow noreferrer">releases the album</a> for commercial sale.</p>
<ol>
<li>Does the composer receive any royalties from the sale of this recording?</li>
<li>I'm assuming the record label collects mechanical royalties and profits from the sale of the album - do they usually give a flat fee or a percentage of sales (or both) to the orchestra?</li>
</ol>
<p>Second example:</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.overgrownpath.com/2006/03/good-night-and-good-luck-shostakovich.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Pacific Arts Trio</a> (also featuring Previn) stages a performance of Shostakovich's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano_Trio_No._2_%28Shostakovich%29" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Piano Trio, Op. 67</a>.  This performance is presumably for a paying audience, of which the trio is expected to earn some performance royalties as a &quot;...life raft for the three of us.&quot;</p>
<ol start="3">
<li>Does the composer receive any royalties from this particular performance?  Or, from any contemporary public performance of his compositions still falling under copyright protection?</li>
<li>If not from particular public performances, then is the composer's only source of royalties from publishing the written work (i.e. sheet music score)?</li>
</ol>
<p>Please note that I'm using the present tense wherever I can here to inquire about how copyright protection and performance royalties work in the modern sense.  I already have a <em>pretty</em> good idea (still unclear on some parts) how royalties work for contemporary popular rock/country/R&amp;B music, etc.</p>

<p>All that has changed is the identity of the copyright holder which has passed on to other(s) through the relevant laws for inheritance. This would be no different if the composer had sold their rights during their lifetime.</p>

<p>Just like <a href="http://qz.com/644048/paul-mccartneys-long-and-winding-road-to-reclaim-the-rights-to-his-beatles-songs/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this</a> only the other way around.</p>

<p>Many countries have statutory royalty schemes for music where the composer <em>cannot</em> prohibit recordings or broadcasting of their works and is paid a fixed amount per performance/play/sale.</p>

<p>To be clear: barring other contractual arrangements (for example, members of an orchestra are usually employees of the orchestra and copyright material they create belongs to their employer), the composer has copyright in the music, the lyricist has copyright in the lyrics and the performer(s) (musicians, conductor, sound technicians etc.) have copyright in the performance.</p>

copyright licensing music statutory-license