Estates

The fee is due upon submission of the BMI Estate Questionnaire and related documents. If you wish to submit payment for the fee via credit card, please submit the Estate Questionnaire first and we will contact you to process the credit card payment.

The entire fee is due in full upon submission of the BMI Estate Questionnaire. BMI will not begin to process the estate file for any heir(s) until BMI receives payment in full.

If you cannot afford to pay the fee, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) to learn if the account qualifies for a fee waiver. Fee waivers are very limited and discretionary.

The fee can be paid via paper check, ACH, or credit card.

The estate application fee is not refundable. Payment of the estate application fee does not guarantee payment of royalties to the identified persons on the Estate Questionnaire unless and until the lawful heirs or successors are confirmed.

BMI is a performing right organization (PRO). It collects license fees on behalf of its songwriters, composers and music publishers (“affiliates”) and distributes them as royalties to those affiliates whose works have been performed.  As a performing right organization, BMI issues licenses to various users of music, including television and radio stations and networks; new media, including the Internet and mobile technologies such as ringtones and ringbacks; satellite audio services like XM and Sirius; nightclubs, discos, hotels, bars, restaurants and other venues; digital jukeboxes; and live concerts. It then tracks public performances of its members’ music, and collects and distributes licensing revenues for those performances as royalties to more than 1.3 million songwriters, composers and music publishers it represents, as well as the thousands of creators from around the world who have chosen BMI for representation in the U.S.

The only kinds of royalties that are paid by BMI are performance royalties. Performance royalties have two aspects: a “writer share” and a “publisher share”. If the song has no publisher, the writer (or his heirs) gets both parts. If there is a publisher, the writer gets the writer share and the publisher gets the publisher share according to the information that was provided when the song was registered with us or submitted to us on a cue sheet. Although royalties for other types of uses of musical compositions are paid to songwriters, composers and music publishers (such as mechanical royalties, synchronization royalties and others), that money does not come from BMI. Typically, other music-related royalties are paid by the party using the music to the copyright owner, who usually is the music publisher.  The music publisher then pays a share of that money to the songwriter or composer (or his/her heirs) in accordance with the contract that the songwriter or composer had with the publisher.

No.

The preferable way to notify BMI of an affiliate’s death and begin the process of having his or her heirs take over the decedent’s royalty account is via the BMI Estate Questionnaire. Complete it fully and send it in to the indicated address with the documents requested.

When BMI learns that an affiliate has died, the affiliate’s account is frozen to protect the proceeds of the catalog. No money will be paid out thereafter until we enter into an agreement with the affiliate’s estate representative or the affiliate’s heirs.

No. BMI needs only one Estate Questionnaire for each affiliate who dies. It should be filled out by the family member or representative with the most knowledge about the decedent’s royalties and the estate.

An estate is the collection of real and personal property that is owned by someone at death. Royalties are considered intangible personal property.

If you need help in completing the Questionnaire, you can send an e-mail to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

No, but we require that you sign it and when you do you will be making a declaration under penalty of perjury that your responses are true.

No, copies are accepted as long as the text is clear. Do not send BMI documents that you want back, since we may not be able to return them to you.

Yes, in order to assure that we are paying out royalties in accordance with the wishes of our affiliate.

Yes. This is especially important when the affiliate died without a will, as children from previous relationships will be heirs and will be entitled to a portion of his or her royalties.

BMI will review the Estate Questionnaire and the submitted documents and then prepare an agreement for the heirs.

We will contact all the parties to try to ask for more information to resolve the conflict.  If we can’t resolve the conflict, we will need the parties to resolve the matter themselves before BMI’s Estate team can prepare the necessary agreements to release any royalties.

Someone who died intestate did not have a will when they died, or had a will but it was not valid under the laws of the state where they lived when they died.

Escheat, also known as “abandoned property”, is the concept by which a company that pays out money, such as BMI, is permitted by law to remove unclaimed funds from its books on a regular cycle (usually 3-5 years) by sending it to the state of the last known address of the payee. The person whose money it is (or his or her successors) then will have to claim it from the state.

Royalties, once escheated, cannot be reclaimed by BMI. Although BMI can tell you how much was escheated and where it was sent, the heirs of the deceased affiliate must contact the state unclaimed property office to claim the royalties. Therefore, it is important that you notify BMI about your relative’s death as soon as possible to avoid us escheating any of their royalties. We will not escheat any money earned by a decedent’s works if we have been contacted by at least one heir.

BMI can only disclose the amount on hold in an account to those persons who have been verified by documents to be the legal heirs.

Due to the volume of and legal requirements involved with BMI estate matters, it can take up to nine months to complete preparation of an agreement.

Under normal circumstances, about six weeks.

No, as long as BMI has verified who all the heirs will be, we will release the decedent’s royalties to each heir as their agreement is received.

Assuming the decedent’s works are performed and earn royalties, BMI will make royalty distributions to you four times a year, in February, May, August, and November, each year, with occasional special distributions in other months. The actual mailing dates are listed in How We Pay Royalties.

Yes, by notifying BMI before the agreement is prepared. The assignment will be recited in the agreement, and the person to whom you are assigning the royalties will also have to sign the agreement. There is no charge for an assignment made in a successor’s agreement. However, if you decide after the agreement is processed by BMI that you want to assign your share to another person, you will have to complete the Royalty Assignment Form (RAF) found on the forms page of bmi.com and the person to whom you are assigning your royalties will be charged a fee of $1,000 for our administration costs in handling that transaction.

No. If a verified heir is missing and neither the family nor BMI can locate him/her, that share will escheat to the State of Delaware (BMI’s state of incorporation) during BMI’s normal escheat cycle. It is not available to be shared among the other heirs.

We will ask one of the heirs to fill out a Publisher Ownership Change form which advises BMI as to the new owners of the company. Except for companies where the decedent was 100% stockholder, royalties are not frozen and will continue to be paid to and in the name of the corporation, assuming BMI has a good address. If the corporation is no longer in operation, we will need a Certificate of Dissolution for the corporation.

In that case, you should advise BMI before the agreement is prepared and we will include language in the agreement that will allow us to pay you in a different capacity.

If you have an equal share of inherited ownership, you each will need to complete and sign a Form 101-H that advises BMI which one of you will be the address of record for the company. If there is one person who inherited the greatest ownership share from among all heirs, we will use that person’s address unless we are advised otherwise.

Yes. Once your successor agreement is processed, you will be able to access BMI’s Online Services and any statements applicable to your share of royalties, as well as see the catalogue of songs for which you are being paid.

Yes. BMI will report all of your royalty income to the IRS each year. You will receive a 1099 each January stating the amount of royalty income you earned in the previous calendar year.

You can log on to http://repertoire.bmi.com and do a Songwriter/Composer search. It will give you a list of all of the works we have registered for writers that are BMI affiliates. Then click on each title and see the publisher of record and the publisher’s contact information.