“Copyright is a form of protection
grounded in the U.S. Constitution and granted by law for original works of
authorship fixed in a tangible medium of expression.”
Copyright.gov |
The United States Copyright Law provides legal protection for artists of
creative works. The law gives music creators six exclusive rights, making it
illegal for others to use their music without permission.
The six protections cover each of the various
ways music is used. If you write a song, only you can record,
photocopy, perform in public, rearrange, or play a recording of your song on the
radio; television; or web.
Musicians make money by giving permission to use their music.
If you create music, you can share your
exclusive rights with others for a fee. This is called
music licensing. On the
flipside, if you use music that belongs to someone else, depending
how you use it, you need to
get permission via different
types of
licenses. Without the protection of the Copyright Law, anyone could use
music without paying for it, and the creator would never get paid. With the
law, there are several ways musicians can make money.
The following excerpt was taken straight from the Copyright Law. Our explanation
is in green:
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“Subject to sections 107 through 122, the owner of copyright under
this title has the exclusive rights to do and to authorize any of the following:
Only the copyright holder or someone they
give permission to can |
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to reproduce the copyrighted work in copies or phonorecords;
make copies of their
sheet music or audio recordings, |
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to prepare derivative works based on the copyrighted work
create new sheet music arrangements of their songs, |
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to distributed copies or phonorecords of the copyrighted work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by rental, lease, or lending;
sell copies of their music in print or in
recordings, |
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in the case of literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and motion pictures and other audiovisual works, to perform the copyrighted work publicly;
perform their music in public, |
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in the case of literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and pictorial, graphic, or sculptural works, including the individual images of a motion picture or other audiovisual work, to display the copyrighted work publicly; and
play a recording of their music in public, and |
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in the case of sound recordings, to perform the copyrighted work publicly by means of digital audio transmission."
stream recorded music over the web. |
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