The The Entertainment Industry is founded on the
acquisition, use, and/or sale of copyrights to songs and the recordings
of those songs. To understand this fully, it will be helpful to
understand the basics of copyright and its relation to the music
industry.
Copyright is the legal right, established by federal law, of an author to control his or her intellectual creations, and to make copies of his or her original works. In the music industry, an “author” can be a songwriter or a recording artist who records the song.
The law protects a songwriter, and recognizes him or her as the song’s owner as soon as the song is written down or recorded. The same is true for a recording artist, who acquires a copyright to the recording of a performance the moment that performance is recorded.
Copyright allows songwriters and recording artists to protect and maintain ownership of their songs and recordings, or to transfer those rights to third parties, like publishing companies or record labels.
Copyright is the legal right, established by federal law, of an author to control his or her intellectual creations, and to make copies of his or her original works. In the music industry, an “author” can be a songwriter or a recording artist who records the song.
The law protects a songwriter, and recognizes him or her as the song’s owner as soon as the song is written down or recorded. The same is true for a recording artist, who acquires a copyright to the recording of a performance the moment that performance is recorded.
Copyright allows songwriters and recording artists to protect and maintain ownership of their songs and recordings, or to transfer those rights to third parties, like publishing companies or record labels.
As
suggested above, copyrights for written songs are separate from the
copyrights for recordings of those songs.
Publishing companies acquire the copyrights to written songs from a songwriter through a publishing agreement; record companies acquire the copyrights to sound recordings of those songs through a recording agreement. How does this work, and what does it mean for your label? Here’s an example.
Publishing companies acquire the copyrights to written songs from a songwriter through a publishing agreement; record companies acquire the copyrights to sound recordings of those songs through a recording agreement. How does this work, and what does it mean for your label? Here’s an example.