How to register works in The MLC Portal

1. After logging into your Member in The MLC Portal, click Individual Registration Tool under the Works Registration section of the left-hand menu.
2. The first step requires you to conduct a search to make sure the work is not already registered.
• This prevents duplicates and increases the accuracy of matching data correctly. Matching data is critical to being paid correctly and on time. 
3. The search starts with two search boxes, one showing Work Title and one showing Writer Name.
• You must enter at least two search criteria to search – you can click the drop-down arrow in each criteria field to select other criteria options from the menu that appears.
• You may also add additional criteria search fields by clicking the Add Criteria + button.
4. Once you have entered the search criteria, click the blue Search button.
5. If the search produces zero (0) results or does not find an exact match to your work, that means the work is not already in The MLC Portal, and you can continue registering. Select the blue box that says Create New Work at the bottom right of the page to move to the Work Details step.
• If the search results show the work you were trying to register, click on the song title to be taken to the Work Details page.
• If there are available remaining shares on this work that you need to claim, you can click the blue Claim shares on this work button in the upper right corner. This will take you to the Claiming Tool to enter your shares.
• If you have shares that you need to claim but none are available (the total submitted shares equal 100%), there may be conflicting shares on the work. To resolve this, you can submit an overclaim. Please review our Help Center article here for instructions.

1. On this page, you enter details for your work. Only the Work Title field is required.
   • NOTE: You should only enter an Alternative Title if it is a: 
   • Language variation 
   • Live variation 
   • Remix where the writers are the same as the original composition 
2. Click the Next button to continue to the Add Writer step.

1. Here, you should enter all known writers and their roles. In the box below your work title, click Add Writer and a slide-out menu will appear.
2. On this menu, you first need to search for a writer name to see if it already exists in The MLC database. You can search by the writer's name or their IPI number.


Searching for a writer
3. If the writer name returns from the search, click the blue Add Writer button next to their name. This will add the writer to your work registration.
4. Next, you will need to enter the writer role for that writer.

NOTE: At least one Composer/Author or Composer writer role is required for all new registrations. For a full list of writer role definitions, please review our article here.

5. Once the writer and writer role have been added, you can add additional writers or click Next to move on to the next section.


Creating a writer
6. If the writer search did not find the writer you are looking for, you can create a writer. Select the Create a writer option, and fields will appear below for information about the writer.
• If the writer only uses one name or a pseudonym as their name, leave the First Name field blank and enter their name in the Last Name field.
7. Once you have entered all required fields for the writer, click either Continue or Save & Add Another Writer if you want to add additional writers.
• If the writer details you have entered match another writer that is already in The MLC's database, those writers will appear in the menu.
• You can either click the blue Add button next to a writer to add that existing writer to the work, or you can scroll to the bottom and click the Confirm & create new button to add the writer with the information you created.
8. After you have added all the known writers to the work, click the Next button.

The MLC defines the publisher as the entity has the direct relationship with the songwriter. It is also known as the "original publisher."

• If the publisher is the same as the administrator, you only need to enter the information for the publisher.

Self-administered songwriters: If you do not have a publishing entity name, you can use your current Member as the publisher on your works.

1. This step is where you enter publishers or publishers and administrators for this work. Click Add Publisher in the box below your work title.
2. A slide-out menu will appear for you to first search for the publisher name to see if it already exists in The MLC's database.
• Based on previous information you entered, there may be results already populated below that you can select if they are the correct publisher. To do so, click the blue Add Publisher button.
3. If the search returns results for the correct publisher, click the Add Publisher button next to the publisher name.

What if the publisher I'm searching for does not show in the search results?

If your Member name does not reflect your publishing entity, please contact Support.

If you administer publishing entities, you can use the "Create Publisher" button to add a publisher to your works and then list your current Member name as the administrator.

Optional:

Administrators: If there is an administrator for this work that is different than the publisher you selected, you may click the Add button in the Add Administrator column. A slide-out menu will take you through similar steps as the publisher to add an administrator.

• Once you add an administrator, it will populate above the publisher.



Represented writers: If you would like to link writers who are represented by the publisher/administrator that is entered, click the blue Link Writer button in the Represented Writers column.

• A slide-out menu will appear with the writers that were previously registered on this work. To link a writer, click the blue Link Writer button.

4. Once the publisher or administrator has been added to the work, you must enter the share percentage the publisher/administrator is responsible for collecting in the Collection Share column.
• This percentage must be between 0.01% and 100%.
5. Click the Next button to continue to the next step.

This step is completely optional.

While this registration process is for registering the underlying composition of a musical work, recording information refers to information for individual recordings that have been made from this musical work.

Recording information entered here helps with the automated matching process and is stored in The MLC database. However, this information will not appear on your work registration once it is accepted into your catalog.

1. To add recording information, click Add Recording in the box below your work title.
2. A slide-out menu will appear with fields for recording information.
• The only required fields are the Recording Title and the Recording Artist Name.
3. Once you have entered the information, click the Add Recording button.
• If you have multiple recordings to enter, click the Save & Add Another Recording button to add the first set of recording information, then the fields will reset so you can add another set of information.
4. Once all your recording information has been entered, click the Next button to continue to the Review page.

Before submitting, you can give one final review of the information you have entered for this work.

1. If you need to make an edit to any of the information you have entered, click the Edit button in that section. You will be taken back to that step so you can edit the information. Then you will need to click the Next button until you are back on the the Review page.
2. Once you have confirmed all your information is correct, click the blue Submit button at the bottom of the screen. A pop-up will ask you to confirm that you want to submit this work. Click Back to return to the Review page or Submit to submit this work.
3. After you have submitted the work registration, you will see a green banner saying that your work has been submitted successfully. The screen will show your work title, a reference number, and a yellow Submitted status.
4. Click Done to be taken to your Registration History page, where you can track the status of the submitted work.