Founding Member Leaves But Wants Royalties Forever — What Are Their Rights?

The Uncomfortable Truth: They Probably Are Entitled to Royalties

If the departing member genuinely co-wrote songs — contributed to the melody, lyrics, or other copyrightable elements — they have a legal ownership stake in those songs. That ownership doesn't expire when they leave the band. Copyright in a song lasts for the life of the author plus 70 years in most countries. Leaving the band does not transfer, reduce, or eliminate their share of the copyright they created.

What You Can and Can't Change

You cannot: Remove their name from songwriting credits, stop their PRO registrations from paying them, or unilaterally reduce their royalty percentage on songs they already wrote.

You can: Negotiate a buyout of their share (they agree to transfer their copyright to the band in exchange for a lump sum), ensure that songs written after their departure are not shared with them, and clearly define in a departure agreement exactly which songs they have stakes in.

The Buyout Option

If the band's back catalogue is commercially significant, a buyout is worth exploring. You'd need to value the expected future royalties — typically calculated as a multiple of recent annual earnings — and offer that as a lump sum. The departing member assigns their copyright share to the band. This gives you clean ownership and removes ongoing obligations. Get a music lawyer to handle the valuation and paperwork.

Going Forward: Write a Band Agreement Now

A well-drafted band agreement can include clauses that govern what happens to royalties when a member leaves. Some bands include provisions where a departing member retains royalties on existing songs but forfeits rights to band trademarks and future recordings. The key is to agree this before anyone leaves, when everyone's still on friendly terms.

The Emotional Reality

This situation is hard because it often feels unfair — the person who left isn't doing the work anymore, but they're still getting paid. But 'fair' in the emotional sense and 'legal' in the copyright sense are different things. Address the legal side clearly and clinically, and deal with the emotional side separately. Resentment won't hold up in court.