Hello fellow musicians,
i hope you live in a place in the world less HOT than Italy during this summer…
Anyways, i have some questions about P.R.O. affiliation and AdRev since i’m thinking to get into one of those (or both) in the near future.
A) I’ve heard many times stories of AJ authors who’ve eaten their own hands because they didn’t register their music with Adrev and someone used it in a YouTube video scoring millions of views… But reading what Audiojungle writes about AdRev “you or any other 3rd party can’t monetize Youtube videos” using your track. Ok, well. So what’s the point in registering the track with Adrev? Just copyright claims? I thought Adrev was Just to monetize your music since for the copyright part there are P.R.O.s…?
B) i wanted indeed protect my copyright by being affiliated with a P.R.O. So i started the procedure to become member of SIAE (equivalent of Ascap in Italy) but i’ve seen they also collect royalties from YouTube, If your music Is used in any high traffic video… That would breach the agreements with Envato?! Should i call them and request they don’t collect royalties? What’s the point in this? It does make any difference for the video author? He doesn’t have to pay anything since the money come from YouTube… Am i correct?
Why the musician can’t collect performing royalties and Let that money burn away?
I would like to clear my mind before i get any further step, i love AJ and don’t want to breach the agreements we had but at the same time i know AJ can’t protect me against copyright violations (my main concern) so we need a 3rd party organization to do that… Advice is needed here 
Ok… well, after searching here and there in the forums i think i’ve cleared my mind on most of my questions.
Here’s what i understood:
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AdRev can collect money ONLY by fraudolent use of your music. So, if it’s stolen, you can always block it or use as revenue.
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Anybody can take one of your tracks and register it on AdRev.
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The only ways to prevent this is to register the track before anyone else or being affiliated with a P.R.O. having the track deposited there and being able to prove you’re the legitimate author.
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If your P.R.O. collects royalties, you CAN NOT register that track with them.
So, since each P.R.O. in each country behaves differently, you have to see how it works in your country (in my case, Italy, only choice is SIAE since we have not any other P.R.O.).
Can anybody confirm or deny my assumptions?
Ciao @DCAudioDesign!
I’ll try to address your points.
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Adrev doesn’t know/care if the music is used fraudulently or legitimately. If there is a match with the fingerprinted audio, it will generate a copyright notice. It is up to the buyer to clear it with the license, and it is the author’s responsibility to make sure a legitimate buyer is able to clear claims, by providing assistance if needed. As per AJ’s rules, an author cannot impose monetization on a video that uses a correctly licensed music track.
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There have been some ugly stories, indeed. But I don’t know if it’s a generalized problem that is still occurring.
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The only way to prevent it is indeed to upload first to AdRev. However having the track registered with a PRO does not prevent anything. It may help prove you’re the legit right owner and help fix the situation afterwards. PROs have nothing to do with copyrights. They’re just collecting entities. Uploading your music to AJ is just as strong as registering with a PRO as proof of authorship.
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I don’t know where you got your last point, but it is not accurate. Audiojungle is now accepting PRO registered music. PROs will always collect royalties as this is what they’re meant for. Some PROs are more aggressive than others in the way they’re collecting, but in any case, the responsibility has shifted towards the buyer who needs to make sure they are complying with their country’s PRO policies.
Hope it helps.
The problem now, is that AdRev seems not to be accepting new applications from RF authors, due to a YouTube policy that make their working with us much harder, apparently.
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Thanks a lot for your reply, now it’s much more clear!
About the last point, was indeed not accurate…
i’ve read this:
"Please note that while we allow P.R.O. music to be sold on AudioJungle, authors must not submit audio or music that is registered with any other rights management organization or publishing platform that may restrict or conflict with the rights provided by the Envato Market licenses. ", while i was taking my breakfast and misunderstood it…
Greetings from Italy, dear french cousin!
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Hi there, these are my concerns too… Just another question:
Is it the same to register your tracks with your local, small country, unknown P.R.O. or register to the big ones (ASCAP, BMI…)?
Also, do I have the right to register my tracks where ever I want or just to my country’s PRO?
Thank you