The Complementariness of a Split Sheet Agreement and Side Artiste Agreement in Music Collaboration.

In writing this piece, I carefully considered the topic to align with the intended purpose and information to be communicated. In order to achieve effective communication, I dissected the subject by examining the divisible parts. The challenge was to compare the relatedness of a Split Sheet Agreement with a Side Artiste Agreement without appearing restrictive or to choose “Collaboration Agreements” for a broader perspective. A choice was made, and I hope this helps convey the intended purpose.

A Collaboration Agreement has a wider scope than a Side Artiste Agreement, though a Side Artiste Agreement may be a type of Collaboration Agreement.

Collaboration in Music

The music industry involves many players and professionals, including songwriters, producers, and performers, whose creative services constitute the music market and the production of songs. Music is the final product of various creative processes by these players. The importance of collaboration in the music industry cannot be overstated. The Performing Artiste performs the musical work written by the Songwriter in a studio where the Producer records, mixes, and masters the sound recording. This is the administered and commercially exploited by the Record Label, which turns it over to the Distribution Company (Distro) to get the songs into music stores (DSPs, CDs, Vinyl). Music stores ultimately offer the product to consumers for a fee and pay out royalties and revenue to Publishing Administrators, CMOs,
etc., who split the earnings and pay individual contributors their entitlements as may have been agreed.

The need to regulate relationships between these players is further necessitated by the legal protection of individual creations during the creative process. The law confers copyright ownership on creative works, with six broad categories capable of enjoying copyright ownership under the Nigerian Copyright Act, 2022:

• Literary works
• Musical works
• Artistic works
• Audiovisual works
• Sound recordings
• Broadcasts

In music, the musical works and the sound recording are the two essential copyrights embodied in a piece of music, which may be owned by different persons. For instance, in a song titled “Fame,” the musical copyright may belong to the songwriter, composer, publisher, and producer, while the sound recording copyright may belong to the record label, artist, or another entity, depending on the law or agreement.

This complex chain of copyright ownership often leads to costly commercial disputes where collaboration is not properly negotiated, cleared, and settled legally. To regulate the relationships of collaborators in music, Collaboration Agreements and Split Sheet Agreements are vital legal instruments to ensure fair sharing of returns from the song and to avoid legal battles.

The Nigerian Copyright Act recognizes instances where more than one person shares a joint interest in the whole or part of a copyright or has interest in the various copyrights in a composite production, such as a song. The law refers to collaborators in such works as joint authors and co-owners of the copyright.[1]

 Split Sheet Agreement

A Split Sheet is a document detailing the individual ownership percentage of contributors to a song. Like a financial ledger allocating value to assets and liabilities, a Split Sheet assigns ownership and creative contributions within a musical piece, specifying the percent of royalties each contributor is entitled to. It quantifies the intangible collaboration into measurable shares.

This agreement shows the distribution of profits from selling the composition. It captures all publishing information regarding the co-writers of a song, used primarily to keep track of ownership percentages.[2]
It is the source of truth when registering songs with music rights organizations and an agreement on the split of publishing income.

Collaboration Agreement 

A Collaboration Agreement is quite expansive than a Split Sheet. Unlike the Split Sheet, which focuses on ownership percentage of contributors to a song’s composition, a Collaboration Agreement comprehensively spells out the rights and obligations of collaborators, ownership and control of masters,
duration of collaboration, exploitation and administrative rights, production costs, royalties, and dispute resolution mechanisms. It may be titled a ‘Collaboration Agreement’ or expressed differently, such as a Side Artiste Agreement.

The Complementariness of Split Sheet Agreement and Side Artiste Agreement in Music Collaboration

A Split Sheet works differently from other Collaboration Agreements. In a music collaboration, a Split Sheet may not effectively cater to the ownership or share of masters’ royalties. For example, an independent artiste creating a song titled ‘Fame’ might engage a songwriter for lyrics, feature an A-list Artiste to perform, and need backup vocalists and a Producer for recording. The Producer might contribute to the lyrics and add new verses during recording.

In another stance, Section 108 of the Copyright Act, 2022 defines the author(read first owner) of a sound recording as the person who made arrangements for the making of the sound recording. Typically, the holder of the sound recording ownership controls the masters right. It is however not unusual that the arrangement for making a sound recording during a music collaboration may be undertaken by more than one person. Hence, a Collaboration Agreement becomes necessary to complement the Split Sheet, in order to adequately determine the shares, rights and obligations of the collaborators on all attending copyrights or benefits in the song made.

While a Split Sheet may cover the ownership and percentage of contributions to the music composition, the royalty split on the sound recording (masters) would be undetermined. A Side Artiste Agreement or
Collaboration Agreement would then complement the Split Sheet by providing ownership and royalty splits for the sound recording. Therefore, a Split Sheet Agreement alone may not suffice in a music collaboration process.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the importance of having both a Split Sheet and a Collaboration Agreement cannot be overstated in the music industry. Without these agreements, collaborators are subject to the default rules of joint authorship under copyright law. This results in undivided ownership, where each co-author holds 100% ownership of the work. In the absence of an agreement that specifies otherwise, each co-author can fully exploit the work without needing permission from others. This includes rights to make copies, distribute, license for derivative uses, and publicly perform or display the work, which ultimately results to a conflict of interest.

By having a Split Sheet and a Collaboration Agreement, collaborators can clearly define ownership percentages, delineate rights and obligations, and establish terms for royalty splits. These agreements help avoid potential legal disputes and ensure that all contributors receive their fair share of the returns from their collaborative efforts. Thus, the complementarity of a Split Sheet Agreement and a Collaboration Agreement is essential for maintaining harmony and clarity in the complex collaboration
process in music.

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