Music law

Music Law is used to describe the legal aspects of the music industry and certain legal aspects in other sectors of the entertainment industry. The music industry includes record labels, music publishers, merchandisers, the live events sector and of course performers and artists. The entertainment sector includes film, television, dance, theatre and video games.

The terms "music law" and "entertainment law", along with "business affairs", are used by the music and entertainment industry and should not be thought of as academic definitions. Indeed, music law covers a range of traditional legal subjects including intellectual property law (copyright law, trademarks, image publicity rights, design rights), competition law, bankruptcy law, contract law, defamation and, for the live events industry, immigration law, health and safety law, and licensing.

Definitions

• “A “compilation” is a work formed by the collection and assembling of preexisting materials or of data that are selected, coordinated, or arranged in such a way that the resulting work as a whole constitutes an original work of authorship. The term “compilation” includes collective works.
• “Copies” are material objects, other than phonorecords, in which a work is fixed by any method now known or later developed, and from which the work can be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated, either directly or with the aid of a machine or device. The term “copies” includes the material object, other than a phonorecord, in which the work is first fixed.
• “Sound recordings” are works that result from the fixation of a series of musical, spoken, or other sounds, but not including the sounds accompanying a motion picture or other audiovisual work, regardless of the nature of the material objects, such as disks, tapes, or other phonorecords, in which they are embodied.
• “Copyright owner”, with respect to any one of the exclusive rights comprised in a copyright, refers to the owner of that particular right.”

Lawyers

Within the music and entertainment industries, there are lawyers who specialize in one or more areas of music and entertainment law. Most practicing lawyers have knowledge of appropriate contract law and intellectual property law within the jurisdiction they practice in, and, where appropriate, at least a working knowledge of US and UK contract law and US and European intellectual property law, as the recording industry in particular is US-centric.

A good source of information for US readers is the United States Copyright Office which is also the register of copyrights in the USA. There are other links below for both the USA and other jurisdictions.

Music law is increasingly a global topic. With a worldwide market, the digital revolution and the internet, intellectual property law is often playing 'catch up' as technology changes at a rapid pace.

Copyright

The Copyright laws were put into place by the United States Government to protect the intellectual property of individuals and groups. Copyright laws prohibit others from taking creative content of others and making profit from it, taking responsibility for it, or duplicating it. Copyright Laws serve the constitutional purpose of promoting the arts by granting creators exclusive rights to their works for a limited amount of time. As a copyright owner, an author has the exclusive right to copy his work, prepare a derivative work, distribute copies, and perform or display his work publicly. Upon the arrival of the digital revolution, the entertainment industry, in 1997, from all areas of film, books, music, art, and television, sought out stricter and improved Copyright Laws to protect their work digitally. The entertainment industries wanted to protect themselves against the new innovations of computer copying, file sharing, boot-legging, pirating, and illegal downloading. As a result of lobbying for legislative action, Congress passed new laws that changed the duration of the life of copyrighted work to fifty years after the death of the author and increased the penalties for copyright infringement. A year later, in 1998, Congress passed the Copyright Term Extension Act that increased the copyright protection to seventy years. The No Electronic Theft Act (NET) increased the penalties for distributing copyrighted work without the author’s consent as well as making copyright infringement a criminal act.

According to the United States Code Title 17 of Copyright Law Chapter 10 ‘Digital Audio Recording Devices and Media’ subsection 1002 states that:

• “(a) Prohibition on Importation, Manufacture, and Distribution.—

No person shall import, manufacture, or distribute any digital audio recording device or digital audio interface device that does not conform to—

• • (1) the Serial Copy Management System;
  • (2) a system that has the same functional characteristics as the Serial Copy Management System and requires that copyright and generation status information be accurately sent, received, and acted upon between devices using the system’s method of serial copying regulation and devices using the Serial Copy Management System; or
  • (3) any other system certified by the Secretary of Commerce as prohibiting unauthorized serial copying.”

This section in the United States Code prohibits illegal copying, downloading, or selling of copyrighted work.

If copying of an original work is done royalties are to be paid to the author of that original work. If profit is made of that original work and royalties are not paid then it becomes a criminal offense to see that work. According to the United States Code Title 17 of Copyright Law Chapter 10 ‘Digital Audio Recording Devices and Media’ subsection 1003 titled ‘Obligation to Make Royalty Payments’ states:

• “(a) Prohibition on Importation and Manufacture.—No person shall import into and distribute, or manufacture and distribute, any digital audio recording device or digital audio recording medium unless such person records the notice specified by this section and subsequently deposits the statements of account and applicable royalty payments for such device or medium specified in section 1004.”

If a party is caught making illegal profit from an author’s work the author has the right to sue all parties involved as stated in the United States Code Title 17 of Copyright Law Chapter 10 ‘Digital Audio Recording Devices and Media’ subsection 1009 titled ‘Civil Remedies’:

• “(a) Civil Actions.—Any interested copyright party injured by a violation of section 1002 or 1003 may bring a civil action in an appropriate United States district court against any person for such violation.
• (b) Other Civil Actions.—Any person injured by a violation of this chapter may bring a civil action in an appropriate United States district court for actual damages incurred as a result of such violation.
• (c) Powers of the Court.—In an action brought under subsection (a), the court—
  • (1) may grant temporary and permanent injunctions on such terms as it deems reasonable to prevent or restrain such violation;
  • (2) in the case of a violation of section 1002, or in the case of an injury resulting from a failure to make royalty payments required by section 1003, shall award damages under subsection (d);
  • (3) in its discretion may allow the recovery of costs by or against any party other than the United States or an officer thereof; and
  • (4) in its discretion may award a reasonable attorney’s fee to the prevailing party.”

It is therefore illegal to reproduce, download illegally, and/or make profit from an original work that is copyrighted without the consent of the author. Voiceofangels (talk)

Aside from all the laws that have been enacted to prevent illegal downloading, it is still a large issue in our world today. People have many places they go to download illegally. From places on the internet to different software and programs. Here are some programs that are used: Limewire, Frostwire, Megaupload, Mediafire, Hulkshare, 4Shared, and MP3raid. These are just a few of the resources that people use to obtain media illegally. One might think, why do this if it is illegal? The way this works is once one gets the thrill of obtaining media for free it is very hard more a lot of people to go back to paying for it. Over the years the music industry has lost millions of dollars do to this. They have been trying to make it harder and harder to download music, but "piraters" constantly find new ways to make the media openly available for the public. This is an ongoing struggle and the end of it does not seem near in the least bit.

Publishing

Publishing is the primary source of income for musicians writing their own music. Money collected form the 'publishing' rights is ultimately destined for songwriters - the composers of works, whether or not they are the recording artiste or performer. Often, songwriters will work for bands to help them with lyrics and music to play, but here again, the writer of the song is the owner of it and will own the copyrights in the song and thus will be entitled to the publishing revenues. Copyrights in compositions are NOT the same as sound recordings. A recording artiste can record a song and sell it to another band or company. As a result, that particular company will own the recording, but not the song. The original writer will always maintain the copyright for that particular song. The publishing money is connected to the copyright, so the owner will be the only one making money off of the song itself. All successful songwriters will join a collection society (such as ASCAP and BMI in the USA, JASRAC in Japan GEMA in Germany and PRS for Music in the UK) and many will enter into agreements with music publishing companies who will exploit their works on the songwriters behalf for a share of ownership, although many of these deals involve the transfer (assignment) of copyright from the songwriter to the music publisher.

Both the recorded music sector and music publishing sector have their foundations in intellectual property law and all of the major recording labels and major music publishers and many independent record labels and publishers have dedicated "business and legal affairs" departments with in-house lawyers whose role is not only to secure intellectual property rights from recording artists, performers and songwriters but also to exploit those rights and protect those rights on a global basis. There are a number of specialist independent law firms around the world who advise on music and entertainment law whose clients include recording artists, performers, producers, songwriters, labels, music publishers, stage and set designers, choreographers, graphic artists, games designers, merchandisers, broadcasters, artist managers, distributors, collection societies and the live events sector (which further includes festivals, venues, promoters, booking agents and production service providers such as lighting and staging companies).

Licensing

Main article: Music licensing

Business

The US Government views artists that give concerts and sell merchandise as a business. Bands that tour internationally will also face a plethora of legislation around the world including health and safety laws, immigration laws and tax legislation. Also, many relationships are governed by often complex contractual agreements.

In the US it is important for musicians to get legal business licenses. These can be obtained at a city hall or local government center. The business license will require the tracking of sales, wages, and gigs. A tax ID is also necessary for all businesses. Musicians that fail to comply with the tax ID process and do not report their profits and losses to the government can face serious consequences with the IRS.

"Music: Copyright Law." Educational CyberPlayGround, Inc. 1997

Rees, Stuart M. "Music Law." Starving Artists Law, Esq. 2001-2003

Kakuk, Michael S. "Music Law 101." Attorney 1996-2000

Standler, Ronald B. "Music Copyright Law in the USA." 2008-2009

"Public Domain Music." Haven Sound, Inc. 2006

"Copyright Law of the United States and Related Laws Contained in Title 17 of the United States Code." U.S. Copyright Office, Washington D.C. 2009

"Copyright Resource Center." Music Publishers Association of the United States Arts and Advocacy, New York, NY 2004-2011

Lindenbaum, John "Music Sampling and Copyright Law." Princeton University Center for the Arts and Cultural Studies, April 1999

Further reading

• Hill, Iain; Kemp, Chris (Eds). Health & Safety Aspects in the Live Music Industry, Cambridge: Entertainment Technology Press. ISBN 1-904031-22-6
• Cornish, William; Llewelyn, David. Intellectual Property: Patents, Copyrights, Trade Marks and Allied Rights, London: Sweet & Maxwell, 5th Edition. ISBN 0-421-63540-1
• Schulenberg, Richard. Legal Aspects of the Music Industry, New York: Billboard Books (Watson-Guptill publications). ISBN 0-8230-8364-0
• Kanaar, Nicholas; Phillips, Chris. Music Business Agreements London: Sweet & Maxwell, 3rd Edition. ISBN 978-1-84703-905-7
• Rosen, Ronald S. Music and Copyright, Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-533836-7
• Harrison, Ann. Music The Business London: Virgin Books, 3rd Edition. ISBN 1-85227-013-6
• Chatburn, Katie; Little, Jonathan (Eds). Musicians and Songwriters Yearbook 2007. ISBN 0-7136-7531-4
• Frith, Simon; Lee Marshall (Eds). Music and Copyright, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2nd Edition. ISBN 978-0748618132

External links

• monthly Music Law Updates
• International Association of Entertainment Lawyers
• Independent Federation of Phonographic Industries
• The Electronic Frontiers Foundation
• The UK Managers Forum
• Recording Artists Coalition
• Music law resources
• UK collection society the MCPS-PRS Alliance
• US collection society BMI
• US collection society ASCAP
• US music law resources
• US copyright forms
• Music law resources
• International Live Music Conference
• International Centre for Crowd Management and Security Studies