Copyright 101
US Copyright Law in a Nutshell
Copyright is a legal form of protection provided to the authors of "original works of authorship" including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works whether your work is published (available to the public) or unpublished. Generally, in the case of music, copyright owners have the exclusive right to do and/or authorize others to do the following:
· To reproduce the work in copies (such as on CDs, tapes, DVDs.)
· To prepare derivative works based upon the work. This can mean making an offshoot, update, or imitation of the work such as what they do in Hollywood (think "sequel.") Orit can mean repurposing the work into a new medium such as making your song into movie or opera.
· To distribute copiesof the work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by rental, lease, or lending.
· To perform the work publicly, such as in a bar or other venue. It also means when a jukebox, radio station, or streaming online internet radio stations or podcasts "performances of your song publicly. This is typically known as a "Performance Right."
So, copyright is a legal right to control the work that you created.
When do you "own" the copyright in something?
Well, you have a choice. Either you can buy somebody else's copyright in a work if he or she is willing to sell it to you (e.g., Michael Jackson bought the Beatles' song catalog) or, you can get one immediately in a specific work of your own if it's original and you capture it in some fixed and tangible form.
Great, what exactly does that mean?
· Your work (for our purposes, a song or musical composition) must be original and not a cover, copy, or "semi-copy" (e.g., deviation) based on someone else's copyright and
· Your work must be documented in some form that can be referenced at a later time ("a fixed and tangible form.") That is, it needs to be recorded in some way - either digitally, on analog tape, written down in notation form, or even recorded onto your voicemail.
For example:
Imagine you came up with an original song. You quickly grab your guitar, hit "record" on your computer, strum a few chords, and yell a couple words over it ("I'm a 21st Century Man! Woo-hoo! Yeah!").
Congratulations! You've met the copyright requirements. You've just copyrighted a new song. Your song "21stCentury Man" is sure to be a hit.
Now, the right to copy this song (the copyright!) immediately becomes your exclusive property since you alone created the work. You're known as the "author" of the work and only the author can rightfully claim copyright. That's right, you can immediately start using that cool, little © symbol with regard to the original song you just recorded if you want (although it's NOT needed.)
How long will your copyright protection last?
Assuming you don't just sell or give away your copyright ownership (e.g., ask any blues musician from the early part of last century) then you can rest assured that your copyrights will last until you (the author) die plus 70 years after that!
Yep, you got it. That means your great-great-grandchildren will likely own the copyright to your song "21st Century Man" as they listen to their song in their flying cars.