While foundational norms have gradually been established for music law in western nations, other parts of the world maintain unique traditions that impact music's legal status in the context of both heritage preservation and enormous national arts entertainment industries, including China[1] and India.
[citation needed] Money collected from the 'publishing' rights is ultimately destined for songwriters - the composers of works, whether or not they are the recording artist or performer.
All successful songwriters will join a collection society (such as ASCAP and BMI in the USA, SOCAN in Canada, JASRAC in Japan, GEMA in Germany and PRS for Music in the UK, etc.)
There are a number of specialist independent law firms around the world who advise on music and entertainment law whose clients include recording artists, performers, producers, songwriters, labels, music publishers, stage and set designers, choreographers, graphic artists, games designers, merchandisers, broadcasters, artist managers, distributors, collection societies and the live events sector (which further includes festivals, venues, promoters, booking agents and production service providers such as lighting and staging companies).
Musicians that fail to comply with the tax ID process and do not report their profits and losses to the government can face serious consequences with the IRS.