Whether you are a rapper, classical musician, or producer, if you are making music of any sorts, it is essential to be aware of your intellectual property rights. This article will explore the intellectual property rights that are of particular importance for musicians, namely, copyright and moral rights.
What is Intellectual Property?
Intellectual Property (IP) refers to creations of the mind. This includes the intangible assets you create and may earn recognition or financial benefit from. Although intellectual property is intangible, you can:
- own it;
- sell it;
- transfer the ownership;
- license it; and
- take action against any trespassers (what we call ‘infringement’ in intellectual property law).
There are various forms of IP rights and protection, including:
- trade marks;
- patents;
- copyright;
- trade secrets; and
- confidential information.
These property rights can represent a considerable part of the value of any business. Therefore, intellectual property rights should be at the forefront of creatives’ minds.
As a musician, your IP will likely be the product or outcome of your creative process. As such, you must be aware of the rights attached to your intellectual property and how you can protect those rights. The two most relevant and important types of IP that a musician should be aware of from the outset is copyright and moral rights.
What is Copyright?
Copyright is a type of intellectual property that protects original works of authorship. Importantly, copyright protects the expression of original ideas but does not protect the ideas themselves. That is to say, copyright will only apply where the ideas have been materialised into a tangible or electronic form.
Copyright gives exclusive rights to creators to manage how their content or creations can be:
- used;
- reproduced;
- published;
- performed;
- communicated;
- distributed; or
- adapted.
The types of creative or original works that are protected by copyright include:
- artistic works such as paintings, drawings, sculptures, engravings or photographs, whether or not the work is of an artistic quality;
- literary works such as lyrics, poems, books, novels, and also computer programs;
- dramatic works such as a choreographic show or a script for a film;
- musical works, which refers to the music itself that is separate from the lyrics and the sound recording; and
- subject matters other than works such as films, broadcasts, sound recordings and published editions.
In Australia, copyright automatically attaches to the material expression of creative or original works. So, for example, the moment you physically write or type out the lyrics to your song it will be protected by copyright in Australia.
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Does Copyright Protect Music?
Copyright protects all music in its material form. The copyright protection for the music can be separated by the different elements within the music, namely:
- the song’s lyrics;
- the music itself; and
- any sound recording.
One piece of music may have more than one copyright owner. For example, the:
- composer will have rights to the composition;
- lyricist will have rights to the lyrics;
- artist owns the copyright in the performance; and
- record company will have rights to the sound recording.
Your copyright to the music or the lyrics you have created does not prevent another musician from taking inspiration from or copying your style or sound. Rather it prevents them from copying or stealing the music you have composed or the lyrics you have come up with without your permission.
As a musician, understanding how copyright applies to your music is very important as you know how and in which way your music is protected as your intellectual property. Additionally, it also allows you to receive a financial benefit for your work through avenues like licensing your rights to music platforms to stream your music for money in return.
This stems from the following three rights afforded to musicians under copyright law. We explore these rights below.
The Right to Reproduce
This right refers to the rights you have to record your songs on a CD or to upload your music on the internet for others to listen to.
The Right to Perform and Communicate
Mainly, you have exclusive rights to:
- perform your music live to an audience;
- play a pre-recorded version of your song to a group of friends;
- broadcast your music on TV or radio; or
- publish and communicate your music on different platforms on the internet like Facebook, Instagram and Youtube.
The Right to Adapt
As the copyright owner of your music, you have adaptation rights. This means if someone takes your song and adds new parts to it or takes the tune but incorporates different instruments, they will need permission to do this, whether that be through a licence or some other agreement. So, for example, if someone were to sample the chorus of your song for their song (which might be a completely different genre of music), speed up the tempo and add percussion sounds, they will still need to seek your permission for the use because you have adaptation rights.
Conversely, as a musician, you should be wary of other musicians and their intellectual property rights. For example, you might think it is harmless to record and post yourself rapping over a beat that was suggested to you on your Spotify Discover Weekly playlist and posting. Still, this very act may be infringing on someone else intellectual property rights if you have not taken the correct and necessary legal steps to use that beat in the rap that you created and posted online.
What are Moral Rights?
Moral rights protect the relationship between yourself and the literary, artistic, musical or dramatic work you have created.
Moral rights are defined under the Copyright Act as a right:
- of attribution of authorship;
- of the integrity of authorship; and
- not to have authorship falsely attributed.
As a musician, you have moral rights to be credited or acknowledged when others may share your work, stop anyone else from being named as the author or creator of your music, and protect yourself against another person if that person treats your music in any way that would be detrimental to your reputation.
Importantly, however, there are generally no moral rights in sound recordings of music. The moral rights are connected to the music within the sound recording and would be connected to the musician or the creator(s) of the music itself.
How Long Does Copyright for Musical Works Last For?
Copyright in music and lyrics generally lasts for the life of the artist or musician and 70 years after the calendar year the creator of the work died.
Copyright in a sound recording lasts for 70 years from the end of the year when the sound recording was first released.
Key Takeaways
As a musician, it is essential to know your intellectual property rights to protect your work and ensure that you are not infringing on anyone else’s rights. The principal rights that you should be familiar with are copyright and moral rights.
If you have any further questions about your intellectual property rights or want to discuss your protection, our experienced intellectual property lawyers can assist as part of our LegalVision membership. For a low monthly fee, you will have unlimited access to lawyers to answer your questions and draft and review your documents. Call us today on 1300 544 755 or visit our membership page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Copyright is an intellectual property right that protects original creative works in their material form. Importantly, ideas are not protected by copyright. Rather, it is the material expression of the ideas that will be afforded copyright protection.
Original creative works are protected by copyright. For example, literary, musical, artistic, or dramatic works such as music, books, films or paintings.
Copyright protects all music in its material form. Copyright protection for the music can also be separated by the different elements within the music, namely, the song’s lyrics, the music itself, the performance and any sound recording.
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