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royalty audits / royalty examinations |
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Royalty Review Council provides worldwide professional Royalty Audit services in the determination of the amount of unreported and/or underreported royalties generated from the licensing of and/or illegal use of creative works (e.g. music copyrights, record masters, video games, films, television shows, audio books, etc.). Our Royalty Audit service includes both physical distribution and digital transmissions (i.e., downloads, subscriptions, webcasts, streams, and pay-per-play businesses through channels of distribution or purchase such as kiosks, computers, TV set top boxes, and wireless devices).
We provide professional services for worldwide royalty audits:
- Examinations of Digital Service Providers on Behalf of Record Companies, Music Publishers, Book Publishers, Game Companies and Film & Television Studios
- Record Company and Collection Society Examinations on Behalf of Recording Artists, Producers, Publishers, Executives and Licensors
- Music Publishing Company Examinations on Behalf of Songwriters, Publishers, and Administrators
- Examinations of the books and records of licensors, licensees, and collection organizations on behalf of Sound Recording Copyright Owners and Featured Artists entitled to sound recordings performance right royalties in the context of webcast, cable, and satellite transmissions
- Merchandise Examinations on behalf of trademark owners
Pioneers in Digital Service Provider Audits
We are the pioneers in the development of procedures to audit online digital service providers. We have blended the traditional procedures of a royalty exam with review procedures related to the servers that control, count, and identify content to be reported to licensors. Our procedures cover most digital transmissions (i.e. download, subscription, webcast, stream, and pay-per-play businesses). In each audit, we research original licensing agreements, review data and system workflows, investigate payment procedures and issue a comprehensive report of our findings.
Experienced Royalty Auditors
Our management team includes royalty audit professionals who were responsible for the direct oversight of the contractual compliance of the royalty payment terms for new releases, catalog products, and special market licenses at the major entertainment companies. Most royalty audit firms only understand the entertainment business from the outside - we understand the complexities and nuances of this business from the inside. Our experience is invaluable in determining unreported and/or underreported revenue and royalties.
Members of our professional team include Certified Public Accountants and Fellows of the Institute of Chartered Accountants (in England and Wales). Royalty Review Council is affiliated with a number of independent accounting firms and consulting firms outside the U.S. to provide worldwide professional staff support.
For a no-obligation consultation on how Royalty Review Council can assist you with your royalty audit, you can request a Fee Estimate.
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For a no-obligation consultation on how Royalty Review Council can assist you with your royalty audit, you can request a Fee Estimate.
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Audits that are now in progress or that have been completed include:
- America Online, Inc.
- Apple Inc.'s iTunes
- Beethoven Radio
- Clear Channel Communications, Inc.
- eMusic.com Inc.
- Last.fm, Ltd.
- Live365, Inc.
- Microsoft Corporation
- MTV Networks
- Napster, LLC
- RealNetworks, Inc.
- Susquehanna Radio Corp.
- Yahoo!, Inc.
Copies of Notices of Intent to Audit eligible nonsubscription and new subscription services that transmit sound recordings under statutory licenses are available from The Copyright Office of The Library of Congress).
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