Copyright is always at the forefront of a music label's mind when dealing with music. It details
who owns the rights to the music and is critical when it comes to collecting royalties.
According to the US copyright office, copyright is a type of intellectual property that protects original works of authorship as soon as an author fixes the work in a tangible form of expression. Copyright is enforced through the use of copyright law. Copyright law gives an originator or an assignee the exclusive legal right to print, publish, perform, film, or record literary, artistic, or musical material and authorize others to do the same.
Original Work
For copyright to go into effect, it must meet two parts: original and fixed works. Works are original when a human author independently creates them with a degree of creativity. However, some things are not considered creative, such as titles, names, phrases, slogans, family symbols, lettering, coloring, or listing of ingredients. It is imperative to remember that copyright protects expressions.
Fixed Work
Furthermore, a work becomes fixed when it is captured by an author in a permanent medium that can be perceived, reproduced, or communicated. This fixed work could mean writing or recording.
Copyright Provided Rights
United States copyright law provides copyright owners with the following exclusive rights:
Reproduce the work in copies or phonorecords.
Prepare derivative works based on the work.
Distribute copies or phonorecords of the work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership or by rental, lease, or lending.
Perform the work publicly if it is a literary, musical, dramatic, or choreographic work, a pantomime, a motion picture, or other audiovisual work.
Display the work publicly if it is a literary, musical, dramatic, or choreographic work; a pantomime; or a pictorial, graphic, or sculptural work. This right also applies to the individual images of a motion picture or other audiovisual work.
Perform the work publicly utilizing a digital audio transmission if the work is a sound recording.
Copyright also provides the owner of copyright the right to authorize others to exercise these exclusive rights, subject to certain statutory limitations.
Copyright Duration
The length of copyright protection depends on when the work was created. Currently, works created on or after January 1, 1978, have a copyright term of the author's life plus seventy years after the author's death. If the work is a joint work, the term lasts for seventy years after the last surviving author's death.
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