I have a song that uses public domain lyrics and my original music. My current distributor’s submission system will not allow me to set the share 100% to me, 0% to the lyricist who died more than 160 years ago. Their support is non-existent and they won’t respond to get this resolved. Registering the song with these shares with PRS was no problem. If I sign up for iMusician, will I be able to set the shares correctly?
Hey @BobBobcat can you please provide more context on the lyrics and their origin? 
‘The Lost Chord’ by Adelaide Anne Procter, died 1864.
Here’s what Claude has to say…
The poem “The Lost Chord” by Adelaide Anne Procter
Procter died in 1864, which means her works have been in the public domain for well over a century. In the UK, copyright in literary works expires 70 years after the author’s death, so her poetry has been freely usable since 1934. You are completely free to set it to music without any obligation to her estate.
Your musical composition
The music you have composed is an entirely new, original work. You own 100% of the copyright in that music from the moment of creation. Registering it with PRS with 100% of the shares to yourself is the correct approach.
Procter’s poem: public domain ✓
Your music: 100% owned by you ✓
PRS registration with 100% shares to you: correct ✓
The poem is public domain — no royalties are owed to any literary estate
The music is 100% yours
You should receive 100% of all royalties generated by the work — whether from public performance, broadcasting, streaming, sheet music sales, or any other income stream that PRS (or MCPS for mechanical rights) collects on your behalf.
There is no one else with any legitimate claim to a share of those royalties.
Hey @BobBobcat if the writer died in 1864, then yes you are entitled to 100% of the royallties.
Keep in mind though that as a digital music distributor, we only collect master royalties (generated from your audio recordings). Any further copyright related to the work (lyrics, composition) is collected through a PRO
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