offering lyrics "for free"

Q: You can use my lyrics for free as long as you give me credit on your CD. You will not own the lyrics and can't say you wrote them.

A: Unfortunately it’s not true that someone setting your words to music can do so “freely” and then not own the result.

The truth is that both of you would own the resulting song, meaning that it is a co-written piece of music. They could do very little with the song without your input. In other words, they couldn’t pitch it to an artist, they couldn’t pitch it to film/tv.

So using your lyrics would preclude them doing anything but recording it themselves on their CD. And in that case, you can, in writing, waive your share of the mechanical licencing fee for that song, however, you will still be owed your share of the songwriting royalties if the song is played on radio or in PRO registered venues. And I have had some legal advice on the subject of co-writing, and it is recommended that you always get a co-writing agreement signed.

If there is clear separation between the contributions, you can agree on a reversion clause so that if the song is not published or placed within a certain period that property reverts back to you. In the absence of a co-writing agreement the law considers the song to belong to both of you equally, regardless of who contributed what.

If it were me, I would also expect my co-writer to at least participate in the process of the music development & give feedback on melody and setting. I would also expect them to share in the cost of demoing the song, if any.

One additional note - avoid any situation where the same lyrics may be used by different people for different songs. The legal entanglements get too complicated. One lyric, one song - at least until the revision clause clicks in.

Disclaimer - I am not a lawyer & the above should not be misconstrued as legal advice.