Musicians and Copyrights – What You Need To Know

By Jason Cole

As musicians and songwriters, we’ve all wondered what it takes to protect our creative output from theft or plagiarism. That’s the point when copywriting our work becomes a concern. Why would anyone want their hard work to go to waste if we could somehow protect our creative property? The first portion of this article will go into detail on what exactly a copyright is and how it affects musicians and songwriters.

What is a copyright?

By definition, a copyright is the exclusive legal right to reproduce, publish, sell, or distribute the matter and form of something, i.e. music, artwork, literary work. Basically it is legal protection for the authors of creative works, ensuring protection and legal authority over their creations. The original purpose that copyrights were invented for was to promote and protect the progress of science and other useful arts by securing the exclusive rights of the creator’s creations, for a set time. This is usually for as long as the author lives, plus 70 years after they die. The 70 year copyright term extension is also known as the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act. These exclusive rights include the following:

1. The right to reproduce said work

2. The right to distribute said reproductions

3. The right to prepare derivative works based on the original work

4. The right to publicly perform the work

5. The right to display said work

6. The right to perform the work live via digital audio transmission (applies mainly to sound recordings)

How do I copyright my songs?

If you have recorded or written down your song or song lyrics, then basically they’re copyrighted. When someone applies to the U.S. government for a copyright, it means that they want to formally register ownership of their copyrighted material. The first step of this process is with a notice of copyright. This notice informs the public that your work is protected, identifies the owner (you), and shows the year of first publication. Formally securing your copyright will benefit you legally, if there ever is a dispute concerning your copyright, so this is essential. In order to legally secure your copyright, you need to send a few things to the U.S. Copyright office.

These 3 things are:

1. Application form. ( You can find the form at http://www.copyright.gov/ )

2. A $45 filing fee

3. A non-returnable copy of your work, for inclusion into the U.S. Copyright Office archive

Anyone who the author of the work authorizes can register copyrights. In the music industry, most copyrights are registered by a publishing company.

This is just a basic primer on copyrights for musicians, but I feel that it should give you the necessary information needed to go ahead and start copyrighting your songs. In conclusion, I feel that every musician, professional and amateur, should take the steps to have their music copyrighted. All in all, it will not hurt you, but it definitely does have the potential to benefit you.