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Royalty Management Information:
Software, Resources, & More

Royalty Information & Resources

With over 25 years of royalty management experience, MetaComet® Systems has mastered the science of calculating, paying, and reporting on royalties. We’ve compiled these resources to help you do the same.

Nelson Case Study: Publisher Royalties Become Visible

Nelson Case Study: Publisher Royalties Become Visible

by David Marlin | August 8, 2024

Nelson is Canada’s leading K–12 educational publisher, currently distributing thousands of products and managing tens of thousands of royalty agreements.

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A chart showing the flow of book publishing royalties. Retailers pay publishers for book sales. Publishers provide discounts, rebates, and refunds to retailers. Publishers pay advances and royalties to authors.

Book Publishing Royalties Made Easy

by David Marlin | July 29, 2024

Many MetaComet customers are running established publishing houses with years or decades of experience managing book publishing royalties. But others are just getting started. If you are new to the business, you may have some questions. Fortunately, the royalty experts at MetaComet have answers.

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Royalty Management Services: 3 Best Practices

by David Marlin | July 26, 2024

Royalty management requires impeccable accounting to ensure compliance and internal and external auditability and to maintain positive relationships with partners. This means devoting significant human and technical resources to the process. Failure to properly manage royalties or rights can lead to erroneous payments, broken trust from clients, and negative impact on your bottom line.

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The Royalty Management Lifecycle includes 4 phases.

Royalty Calculation & Royalty Records: Know the Lifecycle

by David Marlin | July 24, 2024

Royalty records management might be the most confusing part of your business. Mistakes here can cost you money and damage your recipient relationships. To clarify this intimidating process, the MetaComet® team has created the Royalty Management Lifecycle™ model.

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Achieving D2C Success One Step at a Time

Supadu Presents: Achieving D2C Success One Step at a Time

by David Marlin | June 7, 2024

MetaComet is all about royalty automation. Our friends at Supadu are all about helping publishers increase revenue.

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Streamlining Royalty Management: Insights from the Booksmarts Podcast

by David Marlin | July 15, 2023

MetaComet President David Marlin was recently a guest on the Booksmarts Podcast where he discussed Royalty Management and Company Security with host Joshua Tallent. Joshua is an acclaimed teacher and guide on the role of data in publishing, and a vocal advocate for high quality book metadata.

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Royalties Without Stress: An IPG Podcast

by David Marlin | May 6, 2023

Managing royalties can be a stressful part of publishing, but help is at hand if you need it. In this episode of the IPG Podcast we talk to David Marlin of MetaComet Systems about taking the effort and risk out of calculating and paying royalties via automation.

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Don’t Get Hacked – Protect Your Royalties

by David Marlin | November 9, 2022

The transition to digital methods in publishing in the last couple decades has delivered some amazing efficiencies and improvements – but it has raised a few challenges too. Looming large among these is the issue of security and the need to protect the countless pieces of information that are stored in the systems we now use daily.

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MetaComet® Systems Sets New Security Standards with SOC 2 Type ll Compliance

by David Marlin | November 1, 2022

This exacting certification validates industry-leading data protection on behalf of MetaComet’s established and future clients.

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Frequently Asked Royalty Information Questions

 

What are royalties and how are they paid?

A royalty is a payment made by one party (the licensee) to another (the licensor) for the ongoing use of an asset, commonly a piece of intellectual property. Payment methods and frequency are established in a royalty licensing agreement between the two parties. For more details, see our article entitled, “How Do Royalties Work?”

How much is the average royalty check?

Royalty payments vary widely across different industries and within industries as well, depending on the value of the asset being licensed, the sales volume within the royalty period, and many other factors. So, there is no such thing as an average, normal, or typical royalty check. To learn more about the elements that affect a royalty check, see our article, “How Are Royalties Calculated?”

How do I calculate my royalties?

Royalties are calculated based on a percentage of sales revenue or a flat fee per unit sold. The percentage or fee is agreed upon in a royalty licensing agreement between the licensor and licensee. The agreement will also outline other variables that will affect royalty payments. For more information, read our post, “How Are Royalties Calculated?”

Who receives royalty payments?

Royalty recipients include copyright holders (like writers, illustrators, and composers), patent owners (such as inventors), natural resource owners, and franchisors, among others. See our article, “What Are Royalties in Business?” for further examples of people and companies that receive royalty payments.

What types of royalties exist?

Common types of royalties include book publishing royalties, music royalties, patent royalties, franchise fees, and oil and gas royalties. Our blog post, “Different Types of Royalties,” goes into more detail about the various types of royalties you may encounter.

How often are royalties paid out?

Payments are typically made quarterly or annually, and sometimes monthly or semiannually, depending on the terms of the royalty agreement.

What is included in a royalty agreement?

A royalty licensing agreement will include, at a minimum, a definition of the rights granted, usage conditions, and payment terms. Our article about “How Do Royalties Work? delves into the deeper details of royalty agreements.

Are royalties taxed?

Yes, royalty payments are taxed as income.