Carlton Television, the company behind ITV, has been accused of exploitation after it was revealed that the participants of the British selection show for the Junior Eurovision Song Contest were being forced to sign over half of their songwriting royalties to the company. ITV is the broadcaster that represents the UK at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest.
A Carlton spokesperson said: “We have gone out of our way to ensure that this deal is absolutely fair. We have put forward a completely standard contract, which allows us to collect royalties on behalf of all the entrants. We are not asking artists to assign rights to anything other than their entry songs. As a further guarantee we have offered all the entrants free access to independent legal advice from a specialist entertainment lawyer.”
A spokesperson of the British Academy of Composers and Songwriters (BASC) claimed that, while it is legitimate for a music publisher to take 50% of the royalties, 50% was the absolute maximum allowed and did not equate to a good deal.
The contracts were already issued before the national final took place in September, but as the story reached us today we decided to publish the information. Thanks to the EuroFriends mailinglist for this article!
