I represent the artist:

Dylan R. Butler
3 East St. Oneonta, N.Y. 13820
Abes Honest Publishing Co.
123 Sesame Street
Troy, New York 12182
October 27th, 2015
Dear Prospective Publisher:
I am interested in having you exploit my creative work. This is my proposal:
1. SERVICES
I am seeking you, Abes Honest Publishing Co., to be the sole and exclusive publisher of
all musical works that I generate for an agreed upon term. This agreement shall include,
but is not limited to, lyrics, music, and the combination of in song form as well as any
collaborative efforts. This contract will not be applied to other intellectual property that I
may create such as books, films, or theatrical presentations. 1
2. TERM
The term of our agreement will begin upon a contractual signature from both
Parties. Upon the conclusion of the term, so will my exclusiveness to you as a songwriter.
I am seeking a contract to last no longer than my current recording contract. I have signed
a 3-year recording contract with Civil Records and the term of this agreement shall be coterminus with my record contract unless an agreement to the contrary is made before the
date of termination. The length of this publishing deal will be a minimum of one year
with two additional exercisable options.2
3. TYPE OF AGREEMENT
After the terms have been accepted and this deal memo negotiated, both parties will be
contractually engaged in an Exclusive Songwriter Agreement, or ESA. The scope and
rights given in this agreement are expressed below.
4. MINIMUM DELIVERY AND RELEASE COMMITMENT
I will deliver to the publisher no less than fifteen commercially exploitable songs per
year.2
5. RIGHTS GRANTED AND RIGHTS RETAINED
(a) It will be your responsibility to secure valid copyright protection for my songs in any
part of the world that they will be exploited. I will expect you to pay my copyright
registration fee to the U.S. Copyright Office for all songs I write during the term of our
publishing agreement.3
(b) I grant you the publisher the right to exploit my songs in any way deemed profitable
which may include but it not limited to movies, television shows, merchandising, and
commercials, my prior consent and notification will be required before exploitation.

1. If my songs are to be used in any form of political situation whether it is a

campaign commercial or public rallies, I reserve the right to give prior consent to doing
so. Any forms of grand rights are excluded from this agreement and I will have the sole
discretion to grant these to prospective musical theater producers or not.4
(c) I grant you the publisher the right to exploit my songs in digital media such as digital
downloads via mobile phones or computer based Internet applications such as Apple
iTunes and streaming services such as Spotify. I also grant the right to publish my music
videos and live performances in selected Internet on-demand streaming sites and Internet
radio stations.5
(d) I grant you full right to exploit my written lyrics, music, or any combination thereof in
sheet music form. You will have full responsibility of soliciting and making
arrangements for this operation.6
(e) If the Publisher has not adequately done his/her job in promoting and selling the
writers music, then the copyright shall revert back to the songwriter after a specified
period of time negotiated by publisher and songwriter. After this period the contract will
be terminated and advanced monies will not be recoupable. The minimum expectations
are five major exploitations or ten covers within a term.
(f) The writer is required pay the full amount of advance back to the publisher no later
than five years following the last exercised option. If advance is not paid back within the
time or otherwise negotiated, the publisher has the option to use an agreed upon
percentage of the royalties to repay advance.
(g) Publisher retains the rights to register songs for copyright and assume the
responsibility to do all required paperwork and promotion and exploitation for the
accepted delivered songs. In addition the publisher is responsible for collecting royalties
owed and also incurs the cost of delivery. The Publisher is also responsible to keep
account of all incomes and pay proper taxes and legal fees associated with delivered
songs.
6. SCOPE AND COMPOSITIONS
(a) I the writer will assign all of my compositions created under my current label to you
the publisher regardless if they were solely my compositions or joint works. In the
situation of a joint work, I will only grant you rights of my portion of the collaboration.
You will not have the right to exploit the portions of any co-writers or joint owners unless
a written agreement to the contrary is established. In such a situation I will exercise
reasonable efforts to get any co-writers copyright shares.7
(b) It should be understood that I would retain full copyright ownership of any
intellectual property, including songs that were created prior to our agreement. You will
not have any rights to songs I write once our agreement has expired.8
7. CREATIVE CONTROL
With regards to additions or changes to the song such as in the lyrics or titles, I will have
the first opportunity to make any changes I deem necessary. After that, if you feel
anything needs to be changed to better exploit my songs, I shall be notified, consulted,
and give my written approval before any changes are made. You will not have the right to
change my songs without this consent. I will have the sole right to approve or disapprove
of any songwriter that the publisher wishes to have work on my song. You will have

assigned rights to the lyrics and lyrical reprints on sheet music folios, concert programs,
album liner notes, and with my permission, selected web sites.9
8. TERRITORY
This agreement shall be valid in any state in the United States and any European country
contained within the European Union (EU) as well as Japan and Australia. Any
exploitation in areas outside of these territories will not be permitted by the terms of this
agreement unless I approve in writing prior to exploitation.10
9. EXCLUSIVITY
For the duration of this term, I, the writer, will not permit the publication of my musical
works to any other company aside from Abes Honest Publishing Co. I will retain
ownership of musical works that I wrote prior to this term. You shall evaluate any
material that I produce during this term. A notification of acceptance or rejection will be
required to me within 50 days of delivery. I will retain ownership in all rejected material.
11
10. ROYALTIES
Provided that both parties uphold the terms and conditions of our contract;
(a) I will receive 50% of the net income of what you the publisher receive for the print
exploitation of my musical works, based on no less than 20% of the wholesale selling
price.
(b) I will not attempt to claim any performance royalties you receive from any
Performance Rights Organizations, both foreign and domestic.
(c) You will receive 50% of all net sums for mechanical royalties and 50% of all net
sums for synchronization royalties. I will receive the other 50% of all net sums for
mechanical a synchronization royalties. In addition, I will receive 50% of any
nonreturnable advances you receive for my compositions. All production costs will be
charged against your share of the ownership/income.
(d) With regards to the mechanical rate, I would like full current statutory rate requested
to any Record Label interested in the exploitation of my songs, 9.1 cents for under five
minutes or 1.75 cents per minute, whichever is greater. 12
11. ADVANCES
(a) I will receive an advance of $40,000 for the musical works and will retain 50%
copyright ownership.
(b) At the conclusion of our term, conditional upon the full performance of all the
preceding terms and conditions, there will be two one year options negotiated for contract
renewal.
First renewal term: $50,000
Second renewal term: $60,000
(c) The minimum advance given based on a poor year of exploitation and profit shall be
no less than 60% of the year priors advance. In accordance with standard procedure the
maximum advance shall not be greater than double the minimum amount.13

12. SUB-PUBLISHING AGREEMENTS

Exploitation of music created by me will be permitted in the territories previously
described. The Sub-Publishing company will receive no more than 15% of all the income
earned within that territory. I must be paid at source before the Sub-Publisher takes their
percentage.

This article will serve as the basic outline and basis of a contract of which we can further
negotiate. Please look it over and respond with your thoughts and intentions. If you
generally agree with the terms I listed above, please send me a prospective publisher
agreement so that my attorney and I can discuss a possible deal. Thank you for taking the
time to read this deal memo.
Sincerely,

John W. Booth

Sources as They Appear in the Paper

1 Halloran, Mark. The Musician's Business and Legal Guide. 4th Edition. 2008. P. 157
2 Halloran, Mark. The Musician's Business and Legal Guide. 4th Edition. 2008. P. 158
3 Halloran, Mark. The Musician's Business and Legal Guide. 4th Edition. 2008. P. 161
4 Halloran, Mark. The Musician's Business and Legal Guide. 4th Edition. 2008. P. 162
5 Halloran, Mark. The Musician's Business and Legal Guide. 4th Edition. 2008. P. 145
6 Halloran, Mark. The Musician's Business and Legal Guide. 4th Edition. 2008. P. 165
7 Halloran, Mark. The Musician's Business and Legal Guide. 4th Edition. 2008. P. 159
8 Halloran, Mark. The Musician's Business and Legal Guide. 4th Edition. 2008. P. 159
9 Halloran, Mark. The Musician's Business and Legal Guide. 4th Edition. 2008. P. 160162
10 http://www.copylaw.com/new_articles/final.three.html
11 Halloran, Mark. The Musician's Business and Legal Guide. 4th Edition. 2008. P. 163
12 Halloran, Mark. The Musician's Business and Legal Guide. 4th Edition. 2008. P. 165166
13 Halloran, Mark. The Musician's Business and Legal Guide. 4th Edition. 2008. P. 164