In our continued pursuit to better serve you, the Fund has developed an expanded website with interactive features that we are certain will be of great benefit to our participants. You will find that many of the questions and requests that, in the past, would have required a phone call, requesting forms, filling out the forms and sending them back to the Fund via either snail-mail or by fax can now be done electronically through our website.
The following is a tour of the new features and services now available online to our participant musicians.
The FMSMF home page has the Fund’s new address and contact information as well as links to helpful information and services. Simply click one of the six musical notes under the Fund logo, and you’re on your way.
Sections in the the Fund website are divided into two areas: the Public Area and the Private Area.
Information in the Public Area is accessible to anyone visiting the website and includes:
Sign up for our Private Area requires formal registration.
Once officially registered, you'll have access to:
Here’s a closer look at each of these links:
The Frequently Asked Questions section of the website provides information
on when a residual obligation exists and how it is calculated. Examples are
used to illustrate these calculations.
Online Forms
Forget phone calls, filling out forms by hand, faxing, mailing or remembering to deposit that check before the 90-day expiration. One of the best and certainly most useful new features on the Fund website is the availability of online forms.
Public Area Online Forms
Participant musicians can report film problems or ask questions simply by filling out an Inquiry Form.
Private Area Online Forms
Once you have officially registered on the website and have received your Username and Personal Identification Number (PIN), you can:
Participant musicians can also enroll in our Direct Deposit program through the Private Area. Direct deposit is a convenient way of having annual payments deposited directly into a bank account designated by the participant, eliminating the need to have a check sent via the mail.
Most importantly, to ensure the privacy and of our members, all personal information is protected by the Fund’s secure server.
By signing up for Private Area access, participant musicians
can take full advantage of all the exciting features of the Fund website.
Now all of these tasks can be done electronically – without any hassle
– from any computer with an Internet connection.
Signing up for access to the Private Area can be done from the Fund Home Page. Just click the link that says Sign Up for the Private Area with this easy, two-step process:
Step One
Step Two
Upon receipt of both the signed and dated Online Access Agreement and the electronically submitted application, the Fund will then issue you a Username and Personal Identification Number (PIN).
After entering the Username and PIN assigned to you by the Fund, you will have the opportunity to change your Username and PIN to something that you can remember more easily. You will be asked to provide the same Username and PIN each time you want to access the Private Area in order to confirm authorization.
It’s a good idea to pick a Username and PIN that you will remember, but in the event that you do forget, it’s recommended that you click the box that authorizes the Fund to mail you a new PIN. This is located just below the field where you enter your email address on the Membership application.
Members can update their personal information at any time using the Private Area.
Click this link to check out the latest issue of The Fund Quarterly Online Newsletter. This new online publication is written by the Fund Staff and provides valuable information about the Fund as well as articles related to the music and film industry, important announcements and other issues of interest to our participant musicians.
This link takes you directly to the Home Page for the AFM & AFTRA Intellectual Property Rights Distribution Fund. This Fund is a joint project of the American Federation of Musicians and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists that was formed in order to collect and distribute monies as a result of changes to the US Copyright law, as well as for royalties that became available in foreign countries. From here you can access the following Funds that AFM & AFTRA Fund Administer:
Japanese Record Royalties – Review the FAQ’s for general information; search the Album Title Database by either album title or by artist to see if you are credited on a covered sound recording; access online forms to submit an inquiry, notify the Fund of an address change, etc., review Distribution Guidelines and more...
Audio
Home Recording Act (AHRA) & Digital
Performance Royalties – two additional funds established
to distribute royalties set by United States government statute. Navigation
of these funds is similar to the Japanese Record Royalty page, and provides
similar information such as: online forms, searchable Album Title Database,
detailed descriptions of the funds in the respective FAQ and Distribution
Guideline sections.
Links
This section provides several important links to related organizations such as the Recording Musicians Association and the American Federation of Musicians as well as unions, guilds and various publications. A great source of information for any participant musician, all from one page!
This section provides links for contacting the Staff at the Fund. Feel free
to email your questions/comments to us.
The Proof is Online
The Staff at the Film Musicians Secondary Markets Fund hopes that these improvements will be of great benefit to all of our participant musicians. But don’t take our word for it, the proof is online! Check it out and see for yourself.
