What Is a Music Copyright? Part One.

Think of a copyright as a bundle of exclusive rights. The exclusivity means that only you as the copyright owner may exercise those rights in your music, or authorize others to exercise them.

It's easy to copyright music. You have a valid copyright as soon as your original song or sound recording is fixed in a tangible medium of expression. That's a fancy term coined by music copyright law, and means that your song or sound recording must be written down or recorded. You don't need to register your copyright with the U.S. Copyright Office in order to have a valid copyright. However, registration does give you additional protection in the event someone infringes your work.

The Copyright Act provides for six exclusive rights. Which of those six exclusive rights a copyright owner has depends on the type of work or artistic creation involved.

Distinction Between a Song and a Sound Recording

Understanding the distinction between a song and a sound recording is crucial to understanding your rights within the music industry. A melody and any accompanying lyrics make up the song. A sound recording is the recorded performance of a song.

A single song may have several different sound recordings. For example, the song "Amazing Grace" has been recorded by a number of artists including Aretha Franklin, Elvis Presley and Leontyne Price. The familiar melody and lyrics make up the song. Aretha Franklin's recorded performance of "Amazing Grace" is one sound recording; Elvis Presley's recorded performance of the song is a separate sound recording; and Leontyne Price's recorded rendition of "Amazing Grace" is still a third and distinct sound recording. That's three separate sound recordings for the same song.

Music copyright law recognizes a copyright in the song and a separate copyright in the sound recording. While the copyright owner of the song and of the sound recording can be the same person, it usually doesn't work out that way. The songwriter is typically the initial copyright owner of the song. When working with music publishers to generate song revenue, songwriters frequently transfer the copyrights in their songs to another person or organization.

With very few exceptions, recording contracts provide that the record company is the copyright owner of any sound recordings made under the contract. In those situations where there's no written agreement indicating who owns the sound recording copyright, the copyright is owned by the creators of the sound recording. While the creators are usually the performers, in some situations, the creators might be the producers or recording engineers.

In my next posting, I’ll cover the rights you have in your songs and sound recordings.