Payment Basics
The board that determines the royalty rates
Copyright Royalty Board (CRB)
[UPDATED 8/22] How many DSPs are currently included in historical unmatched royalty (HUR) payments?
Hint: See the IHC!
Six DSPs (Deezer, Hoopla, Pandora, SoundCloud, Tidal, Apple Music)
User reports a discrepancy between the total royalties on their statement versus the payment. Find the pathway
Payment Tab, column GH
A user needs help entering their banking information. Where do they find the place to do that?
Login to the Portal, click "View Member," then click "Banking Information" on the left-hand side
A user calls on distribution day and says they haven't received their latest check payment yet. What is the transfer time for paper check payments?
Depends on postal service - but 15 business days.
What kind of usages does The MLC collect for on YouTube?
Art Tracks
User asks "when will I receive these royalties from my accepted matches [from the Matching Tool]?" What do you tell them?
Hint: See Catalog Management tab in IHC
"If your submitted matches are accepted by our team, the royalties will be included in your future monthly payments and statements. You can find out when the royalties were generated by looking at the 'Usage Period Start Date' and 'Usage Period End Date' columns in your statements."
User asks "Why don't I see a payee option?" What are they asking?
They are asking why they can't download a statement / why they haven't generated a statement
This information is no longer transferred between HFA and The MLC
Banking and tax information
User says they received an email saying that their account is on hold for a review of their works. What do you do?
Tell them that Publisher Services will reach out as soon as possible to discuss the issue in detail.
The usage for January 2022 will be paid out in this month
April 2022
User asks "How far back do the historical royalties go for Amazon Music?"
#1 - Find the pathway, #2 - Find the dates
#1 - Payments tab column CL: "The historical unmatched royalties may date back to when each digital service provider (DSP) began operations in the United States. You can find the usage start date for each DSP by clicking the hyperlinks on this page: https://themlc.com/historical-unmatched-royalties"
#2 - [see website]
User asks "Why didn't I get paid?" What is one possible reason?
- works weren't captured in the snapshot
- didn't meet the threshold
- Member is not payable
- didn't generate any royalties
A payee asks if they can be paid to their US bank account, but their company is based in New Zealand and they do not have a US address. Find the language to explain this is not possible.
Column AR Payments tab
A user calls a week after distribution day. They haven't receive their direct deposit payment yet. You look at the Portal and the payment status says "deferred." What does this mean?
The payee was not payable during the distribution / there was an issue with the payee account
In your own words, explain the payment timeline
- snapshot / three month delay
- 75 day cycle
- monthly distributions
User says they had a hit song in 2014 and they're wondering where those royalties are.
#1 - What "type" of royalty is this? #2 - What can the user do right now?
#1 - Historical unmatched royalties (HUR)
#2 - Ensure their works are registered with accurate data; Use the Matching Tool; Sign up for newsletter
User notices a negative royalty amount in their Royalties tab for November distribution. Find the pathway.
Column GO under Payments tab
A user reports that they are getting an error while filling out Banking Information - "The email does not match the one on file." What do you do?
Escalate to Tier 2! This requires Tipalti access.
This user is struggling to download their statement - how do you help them? IPID: 7318261
Offer steps and then download statement
[UPDATED 8/22] User reports that they haven't received any HUR from their song that was released in March 2018. Why is this?
The MLC is currently not paying out any HUR from the Phonorecords III period.