Composer legacy program

"What will happen to all my music scores and parts?..."

The Custodial Management Plan is a program of the American Composers Alliance (ACA) that provides for the continued availability of the composer’s work for research, publication, recording, sales, rentals, and licensing through the administration and publication services of American Composers Alliance.

The ACA Custodial Management Plan is an ongoing, long-term project that began in the 1990s and supports the continued access to the music of Otto Luening, Miriam Gideon, Robert Ceely, Elliott Schwartz, John Eaton, and more than 100 other American composers.

Composers and their estates retain copyright control of ACA-published music, while granting ACA an exclusive license to distribute, sell, rent, license, and collect (publisher share of) performance royalties (from BMI or ASCAP) for their ACA works. Licensing videos and collecting mechanical and streaming income for the composer's recordings are also part of the ACA custodial agreement. 

The ACA Custodial Plan can be an important part of a composer's directive to define how their works will be preserved and managed during incapacity and beyond, and to ensure their artistic legacy remains intact. ACA recommends artists consult with an attorney familiar with healthcare advance directives, powers of attorney, and the distribution and control of assets such as music copyrights after death.

Fees for the program are based on the size and format of the composer's score collection. Fees paid and donations made to the program are marked specifically for the future needs of the music, reformatting as might be needed, and digital processing.

Please contact ACA for more information or fill out the form below.