Q&A: YouTube US Escrow Royalty Liquidation Agreement
What it is and how to get your portion of millions of dollars
owed to music creators and publishers
Q: What is this about?
YouTube has amassed millions of dollars in royalties for compositions for the right of
synchronization that it has not been able to pay out due to missing composition information.
These royalties were specifically earned from US views of YouTube videos.
To help get this money into the hands of the copyright holders who have rightfully earned it,
YouTube is launching an opportunity to participate in its "Escrow Royalty Liquidation" program
via an opt-in legal agreement.
Note that as copyright holder you are eligible to participate even if you do not live in the United
States. Only the views of the video had to occur in the US.
Q: What licenses does YouTube need for a composition?
For YouTube to stream a video with music it needs licenses for the music. In addition, separate
payments are made for each of the "composition" licenses for the rights-holders of the song or
composition itself.
Through SOCAN you get paid for the public performance of your compositions that are in videos
on YouTube that are watched in the US and the rest of the world.
Another license is for the right of synchronization. This is different than the right of public
performance. The right of synchronization is the right to synchronize your lyrics and melody to a
moving image, such as a YouTube video.
SOCAN only represents the right of public performance, not the right of synchronization.
SOCAN does not issues licenses or collect money for the right of synchronization.
SOCAN purchased Audiam, a company that represents synchronization rights on YouTube.
SOCAN members can choose at their discretion to affiliate with Audiam. SOCAN members are
NOT automatically affiliated with Audiam. To affiliate with Audiam, SOCAN members can go to
Audiam.com. There is also more about Audiam below.
Q: How much money is at stake?
YouTube is holding millions of dollars in earned but unpaid US-generated composition
synchronization royalties. The royalties were generated between August 1, 2012, and
December 31, 2015, from views of YouTube videos in the US YouTube calls these earned but
unpaid royalties "escrow" or "adjustment" money.
YouTube wants to expedite paying this escrow money to songwriters and publishers.
Q: Why has this money not already been paid?
YouTube has not paid the synchronization money because it did not have the information
needed to make accurate payments.
For example, YouTube does not know who controls the synchronization rights to the
composition in the US. Therefore, it holds onto the escrow money and waits until it gets the
needed information so it can make the payment.
Q: What is YouTube doing to get out the payments?
To help facilitate and expedite the payments of these royalties, YouTube has created a legal
agreement for authorized entities to enter into. One such authorized entity is the SOCAN-owned
company Audiam. Audiam specializes in the identification, collections and distribution of
YouTube synchronization and mechanical reproduction royalties.
Once the YouTube Liquidation Agreement is agreed to, authorized entities log into a dedicated
YouTube system to view the compositions that have earned the escrow royalties. The
authorized entity locates compositions they represent and adds any missing information. This in
turn triggers the release of the money.
The agreement will not affect the rights of any publisher or songwriter who does not choose to
participate.
Q: When does this escrow agreement process begin and end?
YouTube authorized entities will have from March 1, 2017, until May 31, 2017 to find their
compositions and enter the missing information.
Q: When can I expect to be paid any of this escrow money?
There is not yet a firm commitment from YouTube for a payment date, but we suspect the
escrow revenue will be paid between sometime between July and September 2017.
Q: What happens to the money earned by compositions if no data is entered?
If a composition has earned escrow royalties, but no data is provided to YouTube before May
31, 2017, then that money will be paid out to participating entities based on their YouTube
"market share" percentage.
The following is an example of market share payments:
Total royalties unpaid due to missing information and not entered before
May 31, 2017 for allocation to participants based on market share
Your market share between August 1, 2012 through December 31, 2015
Market share amount to be paid to you (0.001% of $1,000,000)
$1,000,000
0.001%
$10
Q: How does YouTube calculate my market share percentage?
YouTube uses the following factors to determine your Market Share percentage:
a) The period in escrow is August 1, 2012, through December 31, 2015.
b) Your synchronization earnings in the US during the period.
c) Total synchronization earnings paid out in the US during the period.
For example:
Escrow period: August 1, 2012 through December 31, 2015
Your synchronization earnings during the escrow period
Total synchronization earnings paid out during the escrow period
Your market share ($1,000 divided by $10,000,000)
Escrow money to be paid out
Your market share
$1,000
$10,000,000
0.01%
$1,000,000
0.01%
Your escrow payment
$100
Q: How much money can I expect to be paid?
The amount you will be paid is based on two factors:
1. How much money you earned in the US for synchronization between August, 2012 and
December, 2015 that is being held by YouTube in escrow.
2. Your US YouTube "market share."
IMPORTANT: It is possible some composition rights-holders may not be paid anything as they
have no money in escrow.
Others may have very low market share and will receive very little from any "market share"
money.
In addition, it is possible that some of the escrow money might be paid out between now and
September 2017, and therefore will not be in the "unpaid" pot at the end of the timeframe.
Q: What do I need to do to get any money YouTube is holding in escrow and participate
in the YouTube Liquidation Escrow Agreement?
To participate in the YouTube Escrow Liquidation Agreement, you have a two options.
You can either:
1) Opt directly in to the YouTube liquidation agreement by the end of February 2017,
provided you exclusively control the US administrative synchronization rights to the
composition(s) for YouTube.
If you are accepted by YouTube, you will then need to log into the YouTube system, find your
compositions, add the data and meet all other YouTube requirements.
The link for the YouTube agreement is:
https://services.google.com/fb/forms/yt-royalties/
2) Become an affiliate of Audiam for YouTube for free. Audiam will do the work for you in
exchange for an administrative fee of 25 per cent. SOCAN members are eligible for a 20
per cent administrative fee from Audiam.
To affiliate with Audiam and get the discounted rate:
1. Affiliate BEFORE March 31st at: http://www.Audiam.com
2. After creating an account, send an email to: [email protected]
In your email include:
i.
Your Audiam account email address
ii.
Songwriter and/or publisher name
iii.
SOCAN Coupon Code: YTSOCAN20
iv.
Include email SUBECT: "SOCAN YouTube Escrow"
IMPORTANT: You must control all of the copyrights that you are interested in having Audiam
represent. For the YouTube Escrow settlement, you specifically must control the Reproduction
Right for the US territory. If you have entered into an agreement with a music publisher, then
you should assume that your publisher administers these rights for you and you should check
with them to determine if you have the right necessary to use Audiam's services.
If you are already in a publishing administration deal Audiam cannot work for you.
If you control 50 per cent of the song, and another songwriter controls the other 50 per cent, and
you do not represent the other songwriter, Audiam can only work for you and your 50 per cent,
not theirs.
Q: How much will it cost to do this?
Becoming a member of Audiam for YouTube is free. Audiam will do the work for you in
exchange for an administrative fee of 25 per cent. SOCAN members are eligible to receive a 20
per cent administrative fee from Audiam.
Please contact [email protected] with any questions.