chapter8

The Music Gladitator Manual

A must read for any artist or label wanting to succeed in the music industry

8 MUSIC LAWS
“Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.”

Before entering into the music business arena, it’s always a good thing to know some of the laws governing your
challenge. The following is to provide you with some insight into the music industry laws. Please note: I am not an
attorney and the following does not qualify as legal advice. It is important you review all legal information with an
attorney to ensure your rights are protected.
Copyright:

Did you know your original songs can be recorded by other artists, which in return can earn you additional income
from mechanical royalties? Wealth has been reaped from songs which have been re-recorded time after time.

Before you put your recording out for sale, you should establish your rights to protect your songs from any
unauthorized use through copyright laws, which prevents people from stealing your song and making
unauthorized copies of the recording.

In fact, the Copyright law grants all song writers specific rights regarding the use of your song and/or music. A
properly filed copyright protects both the performance rights and the sound recording of a song. In general, these
rights or laws include the right to publish and record the song even if someone else, such as a record label owns
the sound recording rights.

To secure your rights, your song must be fixed in a tangible medium of expression. (Paper with music notation
and lyrics, cassette, CD) You should also place the proper copyright notice on your mentioned form of expression.

Use the symbol © or the word “Copyright” or abbreviation “Copr” with the year first publication of the song and the
name of the owner of the copyright: an example of this would be © 2007 by Ken Bosket. A publishing company
notice should be “Copyright 2007 by JAHMA Publishing Company.

Labels are interested in the sound recording copyright. When you copyright the sound recording you use the
symbol ®. It helps prevent others from reproducing part or all a song as a sample.

The artist should also complete a form for Performance rights (PA) before the song is manufactured into a
sellable product. This prevents others from playing the artist work publicly without paying to use it. This also
covers radio airplay and hotel, stores, restaurant, television and films that use your song.

It’s not necessary to have your song registered with the copyright office to place a copyright symbol on your song.
But to insure protection of your copyrights, the standard method is to register it with the copyright office in
Washington DC. To obtain these forms with detailed instructions for filling them out with associated fees, log onto
the following internet address: www.copyright.gov/forms.

Sampling:
Whenever you use a prerecorded recording into a song and incorporated into a new composition, it is considered
as digital acquisition, which is as a rule for a short duration. In other words, sounds has been captured from an
existing recording and used on a new recording.
When a song is sampled without permission, copyright infringement of both the sound recording (normally owned
by the record company) and the song (normally owned by the songwriter or publishing company) has occurred. If
a lawsuit for illegal sampling is filed, it could result in a lawsuit for “breach of warranty” between all persons selling
the illegally sampled product, starting from the person using the sample to everyone involved in the chain of the
record making process.

License fees for sampling vary and depend on how much of the sample you intend to use, the music you intend to
sample, and the intended use of the sample in your song. Licenses can be granted free, for a percentage of the
mechanical royalties (i.e., a couple cents for each record pressed), or for a flat fee. As there are no statutory
rates for samples, the copyright owner can charge whatever he wants to let you use his work.

Do not rely on the “fair use” doctrine or the myth about being able to use a certain number of seconds of
someone’s song without penalty. Get permission.
Copyright Infringement:

This is also known as copyright violation, which is the unauthorized use of material which is protected by
intellectual property rights law.

Particularly the copyright in a manner which violates one of the original copyright owner's exclusive rights, such as
the right to reproduce or perform the copyrighted work, or to make derivative works which build upon it. The slang
term bootleg (derived from the use of the shank of a boot for the purposes of smuggling) is often used to
describe illicitly copied material.

The unlawful downloading and sharing of recorded music in the form of MP3 and other audio files is still
widespread, even after the demise of Napster and a series of infringement suits brought by the American
Recording Industry against music-sharing individuals seemingly chosen by random.
Promotional screener DVDs distributed by movie studios (often for consideration for awards) are a common
source of unauthorised copying when movies are still in theatrical release, and the MPAA has attempted to
restrict their use.

Movies are also copied by someone sneaking a camcorder into a movie theater and secretly taping the projection
(also known as "CAM"), although such copies are often of lesser quality than officially released versions of the
film. Sharing copied music is legal in many countries.

Such countries are Canada, and parts of Europe, provided the information is neither advertised, nor the songs
sold.

Bootleg recordings are musical recordings which have not been officially released by the artist or their associated
management or production companies. They may consist of demos, outtakes or other studio material, or of illicit
recordings of live performances. Music enthusiasts may use the term "bootleg" to differentiate these otherwise
unavailable recordings from "pirated" copies of commercially released material, but these recordings are still
protected by copyright despite their lack of formal release, and their distribution is still against the law.

In most jurisdictions, copyright infringement may be established by reproduction of the copyrighted work. This
reproduction can often be displayed by the presence of an authorized electronic copy of the work on a server.

The most common defenses to copyright infringement, such as the “First Date” docterine and fair use, do not fair
well in courts.

The “First Sale” doctrine is a defense to infringement of the distribution right. It permits a lawful purchaser of a
copyrighted work to resell or otherwise dispose of it. This, however, is not a defense to the reproduction right.

In addition, fair use is an equitable defense, but its application will vary greatly depending on the facts and
circumstances of the case. Most courts apply some form of balancing test examining the scope of infringement,
the effect on the copyright owner's rights (eg. his or her ability to sell the work), the amount of the work copied,
and the purpose of the infringement. Courts have been hostile to defendants asserting non-commercial use. In
small scale cases, courts are more receptive to arguments regarding the effects on copyright owners’ market.
Mechanical Rights

When a record label releases artist music, they are to pay a mechanical rights fee based on the artist’s publishing
company for every record sold. If you are releasing a record as a ground level based label, even if it’s a friend,
you are supposed to pay mechanical right fees.

You could also work out an arrangement about waiving those fees or paying a reduced rate.

Make sure this agreement is written and signed on paper by the artist and label.

As for songs not written by the artist, permission could be obtained through agencies such as Harry Fox Agency
for their assigned fees. If for some reason you cannot locate the writer of a song before recording, you should file
a notice of intent with the copyright office stating you have made an effort to locate the copyright owner and failed.

Digital Rights:
are the licensing of copyrighted musical compositions in digital configurations, including but not limited to, full
downloads, limited-use downloads, on-demand streaming and CD burning. The Harry Fox Agency and the
Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) recently reached an agreement which recognized the need to
obtain mechanical licenses for digital music distribution. Significantly, this agreement provides a framework for the
licensing of Internet-based music subscription services. To obtain a digital license, contact the Harry Fox Agency,
the publisher or the copyright owner.

Print Rights:
While public performance and mechanical royalties are the major sources of publishing revenue, printed music
can be lucrative as well. A songwriter receives publishing money from a print license any time sheet music of a
song or a folio of a collection of songs is sold. Money from print licenses is normally a few cents for each copy
printed. For example, the sheet music for “Send in the Clowns” has probably made Stephen Sondheim a lot of
money from print licenses.

Synchronization Rights:
(known in the industry as a “synch” license because it sounds much cooler) is required any time a song
accompanies a visual image. Motion picture, television companies and advertising agencies pay for the right to
use songs on their movie soundtrack, show or commercial. The amount of money for a synch license varies
widely. Record companies normally demand a free license to use a song in a video while a feature song for a
movie soundtrack from an established artist can exceed $100,000.
Each license will generate a different fee, as there is no set rate in the Copyright Act for synch licenses.

To obtain a synch license, contact the publisher or copyright owner. Publisher information can be obtained from
ASCAP, BMI, SESAC or the U.S. Copyright Office.

Publishing:
Before we talk concerning the sources of publishing income, we should probably discuss publishers. It can be
very difficult to keep track of how much money you may be owed from your publishing, and many songwriters hire
a publisher for this very reason. A publisher’s job is to find users for your music, issue licenses to such users,
collect all of your publishing money, and pay you…also known as “administering” your copyrights. Because every
time your song is played over the radio, television, nightclub cyberspace and other places where music is played,
you are entitled to payment. Organizations such as ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC collect the money for you on behalf
of their members and distribute it accordingly.

They will also have a better idea of the going rate for the various licenses you will want to grant (for example, how
much would you charge for someone to use your song in a commercial?).
The standard (although not only) arrangement for most publishers is to keep half of your publishing money as the
fee for their services. When a songwriter signs a publishing agreement, the writer will actually sign over (assign)
the copyright to the publishing company in exchange for half the publishing revenues generated. This is because
the Copyright Act requires the copyright owner to sue to enforce a copyright, so you pay the publisher to enforce
your copyrights.
You can also administer your own publishing and set up your own publishing company for your songs.
The following addresses and phone numbers are for your convenience. You may contact one of the below

Performance Rights organizations for additional information:

ASCAP
1 Lincoln Plaza
New York, NY 10023
212 621-6000
www.ascap.com
BMI
320 W. 57th St.
New York, NY 10019
212 586-2000
www.bmi.com
SESAC
421 W. 54th St.
New York, NY 10019
212 586-3450
www.sesac.com

Complements of JaHMa.net Written by; Kenneth Bosket

M.B.A.

A goal shoukd
never be to
acheive success
to be famouse.

But to be the best
at what you do, to
acheive succees.