Music Industry Contracts under the Copyright Law
The contract map of the music industry in Georgia is drawn by four norms: the commissioning contract for the creation of a song (Article 43); the licence contract on manners of use and royalties (Article 40); the performer's contract — on stage and in the studio (Article 47); and the phonogram rights that vest in the producer (Article 48). This page explains all four together — from the perspective of the author, the performer and the label.
The Commission — Creating a Song, Article 43
Under a work-creation contract the author undertakes to create a work according to the terms and transfer it to the commissioning party, while the latter accepts the work and pays the author a royalty. The author creates personally, the involvement of another person is admissible only with the commissioning party's consent; the commissioning party must examine the work as soon as the term arrives and notify the author in writing of acceptance or rejection — absent a written notice, the work is deemed accepted. The procedure, term and amount of the advance are defined by the contract. Two barriers of author protection operate here as well: void is a clause restricting the author's right to create future works on a defined topic or in a defined field, and the subject of the contract cannot be the transfer of rights in a work to be created in the future. The economic rights in a commissioned work belong to the commissioning party unless the contract provides otherwise.
The Licence Terms — Article 40
A licence contract must provide a precise description of the work, the specific manner of use, the term and territory, the royalty or the method of its determination, with the procedure and deadline of payment. Whatever is not directly provided remains with the author — in music this means: every format not written into the contract (streaming, synchronization, remix) belongs to the right holder. A contract without a term may be terminated by the author after 3 years, with written notice to the licensee 6 months in advance; without a territory it operates only in Georgia; a sub-licence is possible only where directly provided; and with a fixed royalty for reproduction, a maximum print run is set.