Registering the Copyrights for Your Music

By Troy Vernon Sutton

Did you know that Vanilla Ice was sued by Queen and David Bowie for copyright infringement?  His hit song “Ice Ice Baby” used a sample from the Queen/Bowie hit “Under Pressure.”

Did you know that Coldplay was sued by Joe Satriani because Coldplay’s “Viva La Vida” copied Satriani’s 2004 song “If I Could Fly” without permission.

Some might argue that the classical masters like Beethoven, Bach, Mozart, and Strauss said everything there is to say in music and consequently, all music today, at some level, is stolen from the masters. Personally, I disagree, and so does U.S. copyright law.

You have created your masterpiece, and you want legal protection to make sure your creation is not stolen by someone else. The fact is Copyright infringement happens; music ideas are stolen.  However, there are steps you can take to protect your music, your creative ideas, your intellectual property.

U.S. copyright law states that:

“Copyright protection subsists, in accordance with this title, in original works of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression, now known or later developed, from which they can be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated, either directly or with the aid of a machine or device.”

This means that your song is protected by copyright laws as soon as you have written it down in sheet music form or recorded it on tape, CD, mp3, or other form that can be “communicated” to someone else. However, generally, to enforce your rights in court, your song must be Registered with the U.S. Copyright Office.  Some of the benefits of Copyright Registration are:

• Registration establishes a public record of your copyright.
• Registration is necessary before you can file a lawsuit for infringement for works of U.S. origin.
• If registered within five years of publication, your registration certificate is prima facie evidence of the validity of your copyright.
• If registered within three months of publication or before an infringement occurs, once proven, statutory damages of up to $150,000 plus attorney's fees could be awarded to you as copyright owner, even if your actual damages are minimal.
• If you don't register your copyright and someone else claims your work as their own, you will have to prove that it is actually yours. Registration avoids this burden of proof.
• Copyright encourages creativity by giving exclusive property rights to "works of authorship," enabling the creator to reap financial rewards from their works by controlling access to the works in the marketplace.

When your song is complete and ready to show to the world, think about formal copyright registration before you actually submit your song to youtube or otherwise send it out for the world to hear.

Copyright Issues for a Cover Band

John C. wrote and asked:

“I play in a cover band (mostly oldies rock/pop songs) that we do for fun.  We play private parties and a few club shows.  I'm concerned about copyright infringement. Can we get sued for playing music without paying license fees even though we are not making money?”

If you perform music in public, you must have permission of the copyright owner; otherwise it is copyright infringement or a violation of the copyright owner's rights and YES, you could get sued, even if you're not making money.

Here are a few ways to avoid copyright issues for your band:

• write your own music, then you hold the copyright and thus have the permission of the copyright holder
• perform music that is in “public domain”
• contact the license holders of all the songs you play and get written permission from them to play their music
• check with the venues where you perform to make sure they are licensed with ASCAP, BMI or other public performance societies that will permit them to have music publicly performed on their premises.

If you have questions about copyright issues, the copyright registration process, or any other general legal questions, please contact the Law Offices of Troy Sutton.