4.1 Terms and Definitions
Administrator
A Party administrating Rights on behalf of one or more Rights Controllers (in the context of this standard a Collecting Publisher).
Batch
A grouping of one or more DDEX messages to be processed by the recipient together.
Collective Management Organisation (CMO)
A Party (that is usually owned or controlled by its members and/or organised on a not-for-profit basis) that, as its sole or main purpose, administers copyright or related rights on behalf of at least two Rights Controllers, for the collective benefit of those Rights Contorllers where it is authorised by law or by way of assignment or licence.
A Collective Management Organisation may also be a Licensor, a Rights Administrator, a Licensing Agent or a Rights Holder.
A Collective Management Organisation may or may not be the Message Sender or Message Recipient of a message in a specific information exchange defined by a DDEX standard.
Distribution Share
The proportion of the overall Musical Work that has been assigned to a Collecting Publisher or Administrator. A Writer can have zero, one or many Original Publishers, and hence zero, one or many Distribution Shares.
Hub
A service that acts as a broker for information exchange, typically using DDEX messages. In the context of the Musical Work Right Share Notification Choreography, this US Musical Work Licensing Choreography and US Letters of Direction Choreography standards defined by DDEX, a Hub acts as an intermediary for information exchange to facilitate sharing of Right Share information. Hubs may also play a role in facilitating licensing processes between (prospective) Licensors and (prospective) Licensees. Hubs may also act as routers and/or provide data caching functionality.
Licensee
A Party that is granted a Licence in respect of rights in one or more Creations, by a Licensor. The Licensee may be a human being or other legal person or corporate entity. The Licensee may or may not be the Message Sender or Message Recipient of a message in a specific information exchange defined by a DDEX standard.
Licensor
A Party that grants a Licence in respect of rights in one or more Creations to one or more Licensees in accordance with the authorities it has been granted to do so by one or more Rights Controller(s), Rights Administrator(s) (where applicable), Licensing Agent(s) (where applicable) or Rights Holder(s). The Licensor may be a human being or other legal person or corporate entity. The Licensor may or may not also be the Rights Controller, the Rights Administrator, the Licensing Agent or the Rights Holder in the Creation(s) that are the subject of the Licence granting the rights. The Licensor may or may not be the Message Sender or Message Recipient of a message in a specific information exchange defined by a DDEX standard.
Manuscript Share
The proportion of a Musical Work written by a Writer, as agreed between the Writers. Typically represented as a percentage or a fraction. Manuscript Shares may occasionally vary by territory and/or rights type.
Musical Work
A Work intended to be perceivable as a combination of sounds, with or without accompanying text.
Any words that are intended to be expressed with a MusicalWork (often termed Lyrics) form part of that MusicalWork. Not all MusicalWorks have Lyrics.
A MusicalWork may be expressed and fixed to become part of a Sound Recording or a Video Recording, or may be used to create notated music (sheet music, scores, instrumental parts) or sound generation codes (such as MIDI files).
In some cases, the Musical Work comes into existence simultaneously with its expression. This is common in extemporised forms such as jazz music.
Original Publisher
A Rights Controller who is assigned rights directly by the Writer (as opposed to by another Publisher). A writer may have zero, one or many Original Publishers.
Original Publisher Share
The proportion of the overall Musical Work that a writer has assigned to an Original Publisher. Each Writer can have zero, one or many Original Publishers, and hence zero, one or many Original Publisher Shares. As opposed to collection shares, an Original Publisher Share does not define a share for the collection of money.
Release
A Release is an abstract entity representing a bundle of one or more Resources compiled by an Issuer. The Resources in Releases are normally primarily sound recordings or music audio-visual recordings, but this is not invariably the case. The Release is not itself the item of trade (or “Product”). Products have more extensive attributes than Releases. One Release may be disseminated in many different Products.
Right Share
A percentage or fraction of a right for a Musical Work for a particular time and place in which a party claims a controlling interest. Controlling interest includes ownership and/or administration.
Rights Controller
A Party that controls rights in one or more Creations in respect of some or all rights for specific territories, time periods, Rights Types, Usage Types and Commercial Model Types (which may be anything up to and including all rights for the world, in perpetuity, for all types of Usage and for all types of Commercial Models). Creations include Musical Works, Sound Recordings and other Resources as well as Releases.
A Rights Controller is in many cases also the Licensor.
A Rights Controller may be a human being or other legal person or corporate entity.
A Rights Controller may or may not also be the Rights Administrator, the Licensing Agent or the Rights Holder.
A Rights Controller may or may not be the Message Sender or Message Recipient of a message in a specific information exchange defined by a DDEX Standard.
Rights Type
The type of right covered by a Right Share as defined by relevant law. Rights Types vary between territories. Typical rights types include mechanical rights, performing rights and synchronisation rights.
Sound Recording
An audible persistent manifestation of a subject (often but not necessarily of a performance).
Web Service
A modern set of web technologies that allow small pieces of information, typically in the form of XML files, to be exchanged. Augmented with SFTP (or other file exchange mechanisms) they can be used to communicate Releases along the music supply chain.
Web Service Call
The sending of an XML document to a port/address on a web server, using HTTP or HTTPS.
Web Service Response
The sending of an XML document in direct response to a Web Service Call, using HTTP or HTTPS.
For the avoidance of doubt, the appropriate response is always the message indicated in the appropriate Choreography.
Writer
A creative creator of the musical or lyrical elements of a Musical Work. Writers include Adapters, Arrangers, Authors, Composers. ComposerLyricists, Librettists, Lyricists, NonLyricAuthors and Translators.
Writer Share
See Manuscript Share.