Copyrights in the Music Industry: Meaning, Rights, and Licensing

This report provides a detailed overview of music copyrights, explaining their meaning as the licensing of music, which grants exclusive rights to creators. It covers the factors driving music copyrights, including technology, market demand, and legal frameworks. The report distinguishes between music composition and sound recording copyrights, detailing exclusive rights such as reproduction, distribution, and public performance. It examines copyright duration, termination of transfer, and the licensing process, including voluntary and compulsory licenses. The report also addresses copyright infringement and emphasizes the importance of seeking permission before using copyrighted material. References from various sources are also provided.

MUSIC COPYRIGHTS

Meaning
• A music copyright is the licensing of the music. Copyrights allow the
author or creator of the music exclusive rights to the song so that the
public cannot access and copy the work.
• It is aimed at ensuring that the creator, recovers the investment they
made in creating the works.

Factors
• Music copyrights is driven by three factors
• Technology: which makes things possible
• Market: which gives the demand for the
‘music’
• Law: which sets the laws.

• Technology allows for the distribution of the
music.
• The market is the demand force. E.g. one’s
music fans may demand a new album.
• The law sets any rules regarding the music in
terms of distribution and ownership

Types
• Songs aired on the radio usually have two copyrights. One, is music composition and another of the
sound recording.
• Although they are attached to one song they are separate entities for copyright and at times are
independently licensed.
• A musical composition is inclusive of the music with accompanied words. The author, is usually the
composer together with the lyricist. If these two are separate then the music is in form of a notepad
copy.
• A sound recording is the series of musical or spoken sounds and is done by performers or record
producer.

• At times, artists with a composition give their copyright , to a
producer in exchange for administration.
• They then look for individuals that want to use the
composition, issues them with the necessary licenses and
collect the money.
• They will then pay the artist on the agreed percentage.
Performers also grant the copyrights in their sound
recordings to the record label they are under

Music covers
• In case an artist wants to do a cover of a song, then they must seek permission from the
owner of the copyright of the music composition.
• In a situation whereby the song is recorded, then one has to get permission from two
people.
• First, from the composer or publisher (owner of musical composition) and second from the
producer or performer (owner of the sound record).
• For example the song ‘respect’ by Aretha Franklin. It was originally composed by Otis
Redding in 1995.
• Aretha Franklin released her own version 2 years later and since it was hers she did not
have to secure license from Mr. Redding’s recording.

Exclusive Rights
• Holding a copyright means one has
all the rights in any matters regarding the
video
The rights consist of:
• Reproduction: the author decides who can replicate the work.
• Distribution: the author decides who can capitalize the work.
• Derivative works: the author decides who can duplicate the work e.g. a
parody.
• Public Display: is not applicable to music but other works such as art.
• Public performance: controls the performance of one’s music in clubs on
the radio or television or anywhere ‘public’

• The copyright holders for both the the musical compositions and sound
recordings have the same copyrights.
• But the sound recorder are limited rights to public performance. This is
under the digital Performance Right and Sound Recording act.
• In the act one needs to seek permission from the producer to use the
sound recording for public digital purposes.
• The license to be paid will be determined by the form of digital
transmission

Copyright duration
• The term of a music copyright depends on factors such as the kind of work
and creation date.
• Both musical compositions and sound record copyrights have their term of
copyright.
• For the composition it depends on the creation date, publishing date and
the author.
• For sound recordings their term was granted in 1971 and it also depends
on the creation date.
• Any recordings produced after 15th February 1972 applies to the term of
musical composition copyrights.

Created on or after 1/1/1978 Duration
Single author 70 years plus the life of the
author
Joint authorship 70 years plus the life of the
surviving author
Works without an author 120 years from creation and 95
years from the date of
publication

Termination of transfer
• The term of a copyrighted music is affected by the right of termination
transfer. This is found in the copyright act.
• Termination of transfer allows a copyright holder to reclaim the copyright
of their work from the other party.
• In music, authors transfer their music to the record labels they are signed
to. Thus the author will still be able to earn from the music.

Licensing of music copyrights
• A copyright holder may decide to use their works for their own benefits or allow third parties
to use the work via a license.
• The licenser and licensee usually agree on the terms and conditions as well as the fee for
using the work. This is voluntary license.
• A compulsory license on the other hand is when the Congress has laid out certain conditions
in which a work can be used and has a set fee by law.
• The licensing depends on which copyright (musical composition or sound Recording) one
wants to use and how they want to use it
• For voluntary licenses one has to consider a number of situations such as

• Reproduction and distribution, reproduction in audiovisual works, public
performance and print rights.
• For compulsory licenses one must issue a license
to the person seeking to use the work.
These licenses are cable television rebroadcast,
public broadcasting system and digital performance
of records.

Copyright infringement
• An author of music or the record producer or
label should ensure that they do not infringe
the rights of copyrighted music.
• One should seek permission if they want to
use a persons sound record or one’s music.
• A person that infringes these rights may be
charged with a lawsuit

• In conclusion copyright acts for music are meant to
protect the owner which is the author.
• It is aimed at ensuring the author fully capitalizes
their music.

References
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policy implications. Communications of the ACM, 60(2), pp.68-75.
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Writing, 2(2), p.5.
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