#ownyourwork

[soverytamenow13]

@taylorswift your a fucking legend. Let me say it louder so the people in the back can hear, @taylorswift IS A FUCKING LEGEND WITH WORDS TO BE HEARD!

[caitorade]

The way she grins when she said @billieeilish is so adorable. This speech SERVED. This girl truly is #fearless. #ownyourwork #istandwithtaylor https://www.instagram.com/p/B6HtZ7Hn64M/?igshid=15uunmkt60u37

[tayylurking]

Proud ♥️
@taylorswift @taylornation

[thatpinkpromdress]

Taylor: so next year I can re-record albums 1-5 over again...

Me:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by D. Lo (@miz_deeds) on Sep 13, 2018 at 2:08pm PDT

[musicpagedotcom]

Copyright: What You Need to Know

By Erik Jarvis with David Amidon

Many artists I speak with at Musicpage do not fully understand copyright law, let alone the means to attain a copyright for their music. The subject usually comes up in regards to licensing music for use in some kind of advertisement or film.

Does an artist have to copyright their material before submitting a song for licensing? The short answer is no, but there are countless variables to consider when thinking about copyright. This article aims to cover some of the basic concepts to keep in mind.

Do Your Research

The following text is lifted directly from the U.S. Copyright Office’s website to make sure we have an accurate definition.

What is copyright? Copyright is a form of protection grounded in the U.S. Constitution and granted by law for original works of authorship fixed in a tangible medium of expression. Copyright covers both published and unpublished works.

What does copyright protect? Copyright, a form of intellectual property law, protects original works of authorship including literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic works, such as poetry, novels, movies, songs, computer software, and architecture. Copyright does not protect facts, ideas, systems, or methods of operation, although it may protect the way these things are expressed. See Circular 1, Copyright Basics, section "What Works Are Protected."

http://copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-general.html#automatic

What Can I Copyright?  

Copyright law distinguishes between the sound recording and the composition of the song. For example, Bob Dylan composed “Wagon Wheel,” but Old Crow Medicine Show has the most popular recording of the song.

Dylan has the copyright for the composition, and O.C.M.S. has the copyright for the sound recording. Many independent artists write and record their own music, in which case they have a copyright for both.

A recent lawsuit saw Pharrell Williams and Robin Thicke guilty of copyright infringement against the Marvin Gaye estate for their song “Blurred Lines.”

The artists were accused of keeping their song a little too close to its inspiration, Gaye’s hit “Got to Give it Up,” citing elements such as “keyboard-bass interplay" and other general elements of the two songs.

A slightly more obvious example - as well as more infamous and less controversial - was Vanilla Ice sampling the bassline from Queen and David Bowie’s “Under Pressure.” Vanilla Ice initially argued that his bassline was slightly different, but later admitted that it’s a direct sample.

Queen and Bowie are now credited as songwriters for “Ice Ice Baby.”

You cannot copyright a chord progression. Elements such as basslines are a little murkier. In the Vanilla Ice example, the bassline in question is a very essential part of the composition. Typically, however, copyright for songwriting deals with lyrics and melody.

How Do I Achieve Copyright?

Technically, as soon as your work is in “fixed form,” you have the copyright for it. There is a popular notion that you can mail yourself a lyrics sheet or recording to prove your copyright.

This is true, but it is always a good idea to register your copyright with the U.S. Copyright Office linked above in order to further protect your rights to the work.

Registering within three months of the work's release - or prior to an infringement - can save countless time, energy and money. In most cases you can use one form for multiple works, rather than paying $55 / song, so if you have a full album or EP to copyright it is recommended to do it all at once.

You can find the form on the website linked above and below.

How Long Will My Copyright Last?

This is a bit variable depending on the authorship of the work, but generally speaking once you have made a tangible product you own the copyright for life plus 70 years after your death. That's quite a long time! But it's important to note that this is not a global policy, though it is fairly common.

Some countries prefer 50 years post-death, while others prefer to make things very complicated. In the end the most important thing you can do to protect your work is to put the effort in, do the research, and make sure that you have a copy of it.

You may have the best song in ten years in your head, but if you only ever play it live without writing down the sheet music, lyrics, or making a recording of it, that song is free to be taken by anyone in the audience and then they will own you.

That sounds awful, I know, but if you've read this article it likely will never happen to you, and who knows, one day you could be suing Robin Thicke's kid for millions of dollars.

Citations

http://www.nybooks.com/blogs/nyrblog/2012/aug/14/does-copyright-matter/

http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ56a.pdf

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright

http://www.gcglaw.com/resources/entertainment/music-copyright.html

http://copyright.gov/docs/musiclicensingstudy/

http://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2015/03/copyright-essentials-5-things-every-musician-should-know.html

http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/tips-songwriters-credits-copyrights-coauthors-29833.html