Songwriter Tips - The Reversion Clause in a Publishing Contract

Q: I assigned three of my songs in the early 1980s to a publisher that has since gone out of business and disappeared. Does that mean that these songs revert back to me? Please explain a reversion clause, and if I do not have one, but the publisher is out of business, what happens? 

A: Just because a publisher goes out of business, does NOT mean that your songs revert back to you. Not unless such a clause was included in your original contract, which it probably was not. However, most of the time if a publisher goes out of business, he will sell his company and reassign his copyrights to that company. You need to research and see if the songs have been reassigned; if SO, there is a chance you might be able to talk the new holders into reverting the songs back to you. There's a chance they will, if they are not producing much income.

© 1999 Just Plain Folks.

(Editor's Note: When negotiating a publishing contract it is always wise for a songwriter to obtain a reversion clause whereby his or her material would be re-assigned to him or her in the event that the composition was not successfully commercially exploited within a reasonable (say, 18 months to two years) period of time. -- D. Zander)