4 Terms and Definitions

For the purposes of these Best Practices, the following terms have the following meanings. These may differ from the formal definitions that appear in other DDEX standards or documents (mainly because those are, out of necessity, broader in scope than is required in these Best Practices).

Acquiring Aggregator/Distributor

An Aggregator/Distributor who is providing distribution services to an Acquiring Rights Controller.

Acquiring Label

The label (i.e. the brand under which a Release and/or Resource is issued and marketed) in whose catalogue the transferred Catalogue will appear after the Catalogue Transfer.

Acquiring Rights Controller

A Rights Controller, usually a record company, that is acquiring a Catalogue of Releases and/or Resources from a Relinquishing Rights Controller in a Catalogue Transfer.

Aggregator

A company that sends or receives DDEX messages on behalf of other companies. Aggregators enable smaller companies to participate in the DDEX ecosystem.

Catalogue Transfer

The process of transferring rights in a Catalogue of Releases and/or Resources from one Rights Controller to another Rights Controller. Catalogue Transfers may involve Distributors/Aggregators. .

Digital Service Provider (DSP)

A Digital Service Provider (DSP), a Party making Releases available to Consumers or other DSPs over a public Telecom network. This includes MSPs (Mobile Service Providers) and ISPs (Internet Service Providers). 

Mapping Table 

A message defined in accordance with these Best Practices that aids companies in a seamless Catalogue Transfer.

Relinquishing Aggregator/Distributor

An Aggregator/Distributor who is providing distribution services to a Relinquishing Rights Controller.

Relinquishing Label 

A label (i.e. the brand under which a Release and/or Resource is issued and marketed) from whose catalogue the transferred Catalogue will disappear after the Catalogue Transfer.

Relinquishing Rights Controller

Rights Controller, usually a record company, that is relinquishing a Catalogue of Releases and/or Resources to an Acquiring Rights Controller in a Catalogue Transfer.

Rights Controller

A Party that controls rights in one or more Creations in respect of some or all rights for specific territories, time periods, Rights Types, Usage Types and Commercial Model Types (which may be anything up to and including all rights for the world, in perpetuity, for all types of Usage and for all types of Commercial Models). Creations include Musical Works, Sound Recordings and other Resources as well as Releases.

A Rights Controller is in many cases also the Licensor.

A Rights Controller may be a human being or other legal person or corporate entity.

A Rights Controller may or may not also be the Rights Administrator, the Licensing Agent or the Rights Holder.

A Rights Controller may or may not be the Message Sender or Message Recipient of a message in a specific information exchange defined by a DDEX Standard.

For the purposes of these Best Practices it is a party controlling rights in Releases and/or Resources such as Sound Recording and Music Videos.