Why Are There 2 Copyrights in a recorded song?

Let’s Start Before Recordings

• Since 1000 AD, composers of music have created their compositions by writing down notes in the form of music notation.

To HEAR the music, you needed musicians to play the notes

since there was no such thing

as a sound recording

until hundreds of years later..

First Copyright Laws in England

• Copyright laws were first introduced in 1710 in England. Lawmakers were urged pass laws to encourage "learned men to compose and write useful books“ by granting them exclusive rights to sell and copy their original books,

but Musical works (compositions) were not listed as a protectable creation.

Copyright Comes to the United States• The newly formed United States followed suit by including a

“copyright clause” in the US Constitution authorizing the passage of laws to protect copyrights and patents. In 1790, the US legislature

passed the first Copyright Act.

• But again, musical compositions were not listed as copyright protected works.

First US Copyright Protection of Musical Compositions

• It was not until 1831 that the US Copyright Act was amended to include musical compositions or “ musical works”.

The First Musical Sound Recording

• Thomas Edison invented the phonograph in 1877 which, for the first time, enabled users to hear a pre-recorded song on a wax cylinder.

Copyright Protection Lags For Sound Recordings

– It took until almost 100 years after the creation of the phonograph

– for sound recordings to finally be given protection under the US Copyright Act.

Now Two Copyrightable Works

• Since 1976, with the addition of sound recordings to the creative works protectable under the US copyright act, each musical recording contains two distinct and separate copyrightable works

The composition that was recorded

The sound recording of that composition

Who Owns these Copyrights?

For Compositions, the authors are the songwriters

Enter Music Publishing Companies

• Ownership of successful compositions usually ends up being transferred by songwriters to major music publishers for world wide administration in exchange for royalties:

For Sound Recordings, the authors are the producer, musicians and vocalists

who made the recording

• When Artists Sign Recording Contracts however, the language in the recording contract transfers their copyrights to the masters to the record company for commercial exploitation in exchange for royalties

How Long Does the Copyright Protection Last?

• The author’s life plus 70 years – which gives the author’s heirs the benefit of earnings made from successful works after death