APRA began processing our performing right distribution 43A (earnings July to December 2005) last week, and again we would like to thank publishers for their assistance and co-operation in meeting registration deadlines, providing cue sheets and resolving disputes as much as possible in time for the cut-off. Publishers should receive APRA distribution payments and statements in early May.
This distribution period saw some major international catalogues change sub-publishing ownership, however these were generally handled without much difficulty due to the quality of agreement registrations and information provided by those publishers involved. In total, we processed 380 catalogue changes involving about 16,000 works for the 43A distribution. Thanks must go to the Publisher Services team for their diligence in processing registrations in a timely manner during a difficult period of change in Publisher Services.
As always at the end of an APRA distribution, works in dispute with Promoter Concert, Online or Ringtone performance income have been paid to APRA suspense accounts. The majority are as usual foreign works with multiple writers and sample usage where shares have not been agreed to, so we encourage our major publisher members to check the CMS Suspense Account Inquiry after the distribution has been paid to review the works in suspense in which you have an interest, and contact the other publishers involved in an effort to resolve the disputes and release income from suspense. If you are unsure why a work is being paid to suspense or need help accessing the Suspense Account Inquiry, please feel free to contact me for an explanation.
We will advise publisher members when updated lists of Unidentified Works, Films, Documentaries and TV series are available on the Publisher Resources page of our website. We will also be updating the list of unrepresented foreign catalogues at that time.
