by David Bowden, Manager Mechanical Distribution
Email: dbowden@apra.com.au

March 2006 AMCOS Distribution
Along with ongoing Category 2 record company sales the March 2006 quarter distribution saw the first payments made via the CMS platform of ringtone and digital download download royalties as well as monies paid from the AMCOS control and dispute accounts. Please contact us if you have any queries on your payments, statements or any other aspect of this distribution.

Collection Period Earnings – How They Are Paid
CMS distributions are programmed to pay subpublishers whose agreements have terminated provided the collection period date has not expired. Below is a brief summary of how it works. (Note that SW = specific works agreement & GC = general catalogue agreement). The same rules apply (with minor differences) for writer – publisher agreements.

• Original publishers in MDOFs are examined at distribution time for terminated agreements whose term is applicable to the sales period.
• If a terminated SW exists and the work is listed the SW subpublisher will be paid
  If no terminated SW exists or the work is not listed on a terminated SW the system looks for a terminated GC. If none exists the current subpublisher in the MDOF is paid.
• If a terminated GC exists the system then looks for a current GC.
• If the current GC subpublisher matches the MDOF subpublisher then the terminated GC subpublisher is paid.
• If the current GC subpublisher does not match the MDOF subpublisher then it is assumed that the work is subject to a SW and the current MDOF subpublisher is paid.

You will continue to see groups being added to MDOFs but, because of the above rules, not as frequently as before.

It is in publishers’ best interests to ensure that agreements are accurately documented on CMS. Doing so will increase the amount of collection period money you are paid for older licence periods once your agreements terminate.

MDOF Rounding & Decimal Places
With increasing numbers of EDI MROCs being added to CMS and the overwhelming majority being to 2 decimal places, it has been decided to rationalise our approach to rounding MDOFs, with a view to reducing the number of spurious disputes being created for tiny percentage amounts. From now on APRA/AMCOS staff will round registered percentages to 2 decimal places.

For example if you register 33.34% you may see this adjusted to 33.33% depending on what other shares have previously been registered. What we won’t be doing is putting a work into dispute if the sum total of claims made is between 100% and 100.2%.