The Feature Tax: Why Guest Verses Are Complicated

“I paid a rapper $500 for a guest verse, so the song is 100% mine, right?”

Not unless you have a signed work for hire that explicitly says they are surrendering publishing. A feature fee buys the performance on the record. It does not automatically buy the composition. That featured writer still legally owns a percentage of the underlying song. If you register 100% of the publishing to recoup the $500, you are committing copyright infringement.

Don’t turn a collab into a claim war

Agree on the splits, sign a simple split sheet, and let RightsTune route the exact percentages to everyone involved. Paying for a verse and owning the publishing are two different transactions. Treat them that way before the song is out.