Music Copyright

Copyright

The best way to protect work from people using it without permission is to take steps to show you are the copyright owner. Copyright is a form of intellectual property law. There are two types of intellectual property, industrial property and Copyright. Where Industrial property refers to inventions and industrial designs, copyright applies to artistic creations. Copyright gives the owner/artist rights on any copying, distribution, performance or transmission of their work. However copyright law only protects the expression of ideas, not the ideas themselves. Copyright protects “literature, including novels, instruction manuals, computer programs, song lyrics, newspaper articles, website content and some types of database. Drama, including dance or mime. Music. Art, including paintings, engravings, photographs, sculptures, collages, architecture, technical drawings, diagrams, maps and logos. Layouts used to publish a work, for a book. Recordings of a work, including sound and film broadcasts of a work” [www.patent.gov.uk]

The first copyright law was passed in 1710, before this, disputes over rights were enforced by common law. Since then, there have been many additions and alterations to the law including adding protection for the first time for film and broadcasts with the Copyrights Act 1956, which came into force on the 1st June 1957. The copyright law 1911 brought all conditions on copyright into one Act. It also extended the term of protection and expanded cover to include architecture, sound recordings, records and perforated rolls. Whilst abolishing the need to register copyright and protection for unpublished works, excluding paintings, drawings and photographs. There have been amendments since then and the current Act in force is the copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, which was enforced as of 1st August 1989. There are certain acts that do not infringe copyright, these include any presentation or copies which are used for educational purpose, criticism and news reporting, accidental inclusion and any copies lent out by libraries.

As the need to register for copyright is no longer required copyright exists as soon as the idea is created in a form, for example a piece of music is recorded. Although the copyright exists ownership and the date of creation may need to be proved if challenged. Recording the work in any form, i.e. audio or written if in the form of a song, would prove ownership and sending a self-addressed copy of the work by registered post would prove the date. However opening the envelope would invalidate the proof, and would only be valid if opened in court or in front of a solicitor, were it can be witnessed. A copy can be submitted to a bank or solicitor as a receipt can be obtained, however there are fees involved. A member of the PRS can register any work with them, however this only includes the title and not the content.

With Music there is usually several types