Copyright for Independent Bands
There is hardly a more complex area of law than copyright, and unfortunately, it affects every independent band very directly. It's rather confusing and involved and so this section is meant to be nothing more than a summary of the law. It does not constitute legal advice!* If you have specific questions or need assistance in "officially" copyrighting your material, you'll need to contact your lawyer.
Additionally, we need to clarify that this section will be about US Copyright laws. Each country has its own laws and therefore some of this section may not apply internationally.
Now that that part is out of the way, we hope that you will find this section educational and useful without getting too legalistic. As with all of The Survival Guide, we've provided links to those sites that go into greater detail if you find yourself enjoying legal research or are having trouble getting to sleep.
There are many books that are devoted to the history of copyright. Interestingly, it is music and the music industry that has driven much of the development of this law. Music is recorded, performed, published in music notation, synchronized with film and video, and digitized. All of these uses of music can be copyrighted and each use has a different body of copyright law devoted to them.
To understand how copyright works today, you need to know its history, and how things were done in the past. We'll give you links to the history so you can read up on it if you're interested. It's actually a fascinating topic. But if you want the short version, the first section will answer the basic questions and tell you what you should probably do regarding copyrighting your songs.
Here's the summary:
- Copyright 101 – Copyright Law in a Nutshell: A brief explanation of how copyright law works.
- Myths About Copyright: Discusses three common myths surrounding copyright.
- How To Register Your Songs with the US Copyright Office: A step-by-step guide to copyrighting your music.
- The Types of Copyright:An overview of the "umbrella of rights" you have and control as a copyright owner.
- Some Rights Reserved vs. "All Rights Reserved" - The Creative Commons License Alternative:Discusses and recommends releasing some of your copyright control in the hopes of getting your songs and name out there.
- Registering your songs with a Performance Society: Discusses what a Performance Rights Society is and whether to join one or not.
- Copyright, Cover Songs, and Loops:A short explanation of the legal issues associated with cover songs, loops, and samples.
- Copyright and Copyleft: Some parting thoughts.
[*Although this section has been written by Beatnik Lawyer, please note that Beatnik Lawyer's name is preceded by the word "Beatnik." That is to say, he is Beatnik Turtle's lawyer. He is not your lawyer. Your lawyer is sitting in an office somewhere waiting for your call. That's the lawyer that will be able to give you legal advice. Go on, give your lawyer a call.]