Publishing is the business of owning, administering and exploiting the composition, which is the song itself, as distinct from any particular recording of it.
The mechanism
A publisher registers compositions, licenses them, collects the income they generate and takes a share. Deals range from full publishing, where the publisher takes ownership of copyright shares, to administration deals, where the writer keeps ownership and pays a smaller percentage for the collection work.
A worked example
A writer on a full publishing deal may assign a share of the copyright in exchange for an advance. A writer on an admin deal keeps the copyright and pays a percentage, typically much smaller, purely for registration and collection.
What it is confused with
- Master versus composition Publishing concerns the composition side of that split. It is not a third copyright, it is the business built around one of the two.
- Performing rights organisation A PRO only licenses and collects for public performance. A publisher administers the composition across every use, including sync and mechanicals.
Why it matters
Most artists sign a recording deal understanding it and a publishing deal not understanding it, and publishing is the side that keeps paying long after the recording stops.
Sources: US Copyright Office
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Related: Recoupment · Black box royalties · 360 deal