publishing contract

[ricaroon]

have a song publishing contract from TN; I'm in NY; its pretty standard; just 2 questions - 1) publisher says I'm liable if he's sued; 2) I get $1.00 when the song is published in a "folio or composite work" - are those pretty standard clauses for a song publishing agreement? Thanks for any help.

 

[ALawyer]

Indemnification is standard in many contracts, and here the publisher wants to be protected if you stole someone else's words or music, and he has no clue if you did. Not unreasonable.

As for the folio -- that's a matter of negotiation. If I cut a single, I sure would want more than $1 if my song was the highlight of a platinum album. But if this were my first record, I may not have much negotiating ability.