About Music Copyrights and Your Different Types of Rights

This is just a short introduction into copyrights, you should not attempt to copyright your music without first getting your hands on a copy of Ty Cohen's complete copyright course called "Copyright Your Music In Minutes"

Music copyrights can be a confusing topic. First of all there are many people involved: the composer, the publisher, and the music licensing agency, each of whom has different rights which depend on how the business relationships are structured.. Then there are many types of rights, including the public performance right, the mechanical right, the reproduction right, the synchronization right, and others. Does this all sound confusing? Don't feel bad - it is confusing. This article will provide a basic outline of the various types of rights, as well as identify some more authoritative references. Its also important to understand the difference between a song or musical work (we will use these terms interchangeably) on one hand, and a sound recording on the other. A musical work is the composition of the song itself (such as the lyrics and sheet music). A sound recording is when someone performs the song and it is recorded onto a medium that allows the song to be played again. Many different types of rights can be granted for musical works.

These are: The right to reproduce The right to distribute (the mechanical right) The right to create derivative works The right to perform publicly The right to display publicly In addition, a few different rights can be granted related to a sound recording. These are: The right to reproduce The right to distribute (the mechanical right) The right to create derivative works Public Performance Right US Copyright Law, Title 17, Section 101 defines a performance right as follows: to transmit or otherwise communicate a performance or display of the work to the public, by any means of any device or process, whether the members of the public capable of receiving the performance or display receive it in the same place or in separate places and at the same time or at different times. This right means that the copyright holder must authorize every instance of a song being played on a radio station, TV station, concerts, jukeboxes, or by other means.

Reproduction Rights : Reproduction is the right of the copyright holder to make copies of a musical work or sound recording on a CD, record, computer files, in print, as part of a movie soundtrack, or other recording medium. This includes the right of duplication of such recordings in quantity.

Mechanical Rights : Mechanical rights are needed if you intend to reproduce and distribute a musical work. This right is typically needed by a record company. The record company pays a fee per unit for this right. The fee is paid to the publisher or the publisher's agent.

Synchronization Rights : A Synchronization right is the right to synchronize the performance of a sound recording in a specific way with visual images. Synchronization rights are important in the use of songs and sound recordings on TV shows, in the movies, or other types of motion picture and video media.

Derivative Works Rights : The derivative works right is the right to take a original song or sound recording and make alterations to it. For example, you can alter a song by writing new lyrics for it. Or you can alter a sound recording by mixing in additional instruments or incorporating it into a medley

Display Rights : This right is refers to the right to display a song publicly. This is a right encountered less frequently than the others, but would become an issue if someone wanted to display a song in some fashion (e.g. put the lyrics for a song in their store window). This is just a short introduction into copyrights, and again, I must stress that you should not attempt to copyright your music or move further on this subject without first getting your hands on a copy of Ty Cohen's complete copyright course called "Copyright Your Music In Minutes"

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