Describe co-publishing and its impact on ownership and revenue splits.

• A. The master owner controls all licensing.
• B. Co-publishing means the writer owns all publishing and the publisher has no rights.
• C. Co-publishing transfers ownership of the sound recording to a third party.
• D. Co-publishing splits publishing ownership between publishers; affects revenue splits and licensing control.

Answer: (D)

Co-publishing is about sharing ownership of the musical composition between the writer and a publisher. When rights are shared, the publishing income is divided according to that ownership stake, and licensing decisions for the composition (such as syncs, performances, and prints) are influenced by who holds the publishing rights.

Because publishing rights generate royalties from performances and reproductions, who owns those rights determines who gets paid and how licensing is handled. The publisher often takes a share of the publishing income and handles licensing negotiations, while the writer keeps their corresponding portion of the publishing rights. The exact split varies by contract, but the key idea is that ownership, revenue, and licensing control for the composition are shared.

This doesn’t touch the ownership of the sound recording itself. Master rights (the recording) are separate and controlled by the master owner, regardless of how publishing rights are allocated.