WHO KNOWS ANYTHING ABOUT "PERFORMANCE RIGHTS"?

A long-lost former associate (Mike Boyd, ex of Lapeer County Rockers for those in the know) is trying to make it big in Nashville and has been including a few Clutters songs in his repertoire. Yeah, yeah, I know, he's insane, doesn't realize just how much bad luck and bad karma is associated with those numbers. Anyhow, he wants to gain the performance rights for two of these songs I wrote, and publish them under the umbrella of his publishing company, just to make everything official and professional and all.

Anyone know anything at all about how this process works? I trust this guy (and his crazy ol' dad, who appears to be acting as his manager), so it's not a matter of worrying about being ripped off by him, it's every other motherfucker in the music biz that I'm suspicious of. If anyone has any essential advice, please pass it on. These songs sure aren't making me any money right now, so I really have nothing to lose, I just wanna make sure my name stays attached to them all the way down the line.