You wrote a Song! Now what?
Picture this, you are 17 year old singer/songwriter and have finally written an orginal song that you want to post on Tik Tok. You have a lot of followers and you have a feeling the song will go viral! This is your first song you want to post that isn’t a cover. But, you have no idea what to do with the song before and after you post it. Is there a way to protect your song so others don’t copy it? Does copyright last forever? How do you make money off the song? What even is a royalty? So many questions!!! A lot of music industry terminology can be extremely confusing and many times they are not explained in a way the common song writer can understand without endless amounts of research.To understand other complex concepts like royalties, licensing, and more you first need to understand the basis of where they come from. We will use this Tik Tok scenario to build on the steps to take from a songs conception all the way to release and after.
First, we are going to break down some of the laws and terms that govern the music industry. The copyright laws of the United States, or as they are officially know U.S.C. 17,, provide a long and drawn out explanation of what copyright really means and how to make sure you are protecting your rights as a songwriter, but they are important to grasp. First thing is first, what’s the point of all these laws? When I write a song isn’t it mine? I wrote it! Well, yes you aren’t wrong, but it can get a bit more complicated.
“Copyright protection subsists, in accordance with this title, in original works of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression...”
— U.S.C. 17, Section 102(a)
The above quote is directly from the U.S.C. 17, and let’s be real it makes little sense at first glance. But, this may be one of the most important quotes to understand. Lets break down the sentence to better understand what this is saying:
Original Work of Authorship - This work (song) was independently created using only unique and creative ideas you have. This leaves a lot of open interpretation of what original means, right? The United States did this purposely to allow Well, there is also something called “derivative work.” This is something that is directly based on another preexisting work. A recent example of this I saw on Tik Tok was a young creator made a song called “Hey It’s Delilah”, which was derivative off the song structure and lyrics of the song “Hey There Delilah” by the Plain White Tees. We will get into the licenses she had to obtain to get the rights to create this in later blogs, but this is a great example of derivative work.
Fixed in any tangible medium - This means that the song you wrote isn’t just sitting inside your head. It is written down, recorded, or some other means of “tangible” representation. An idea in someones head is not copyrighted material, but once you put that idea for a song down somewhere it is!
A song is broken up into two different copyrights. The master/sound recording and the composition. The composition are the lyrics, sounds, harmonies and other melodic features you utilize in your original work. The sound recording is the specific recording you create using the composition you previously created. So looking at the pie chart below one song/original work really has two different copyrights associated. This is where it gets more complicated depending on how many people wrote the song and/or produced. This breakdown means there is a total 200% possible that can be owned by the songwriter, record label, publisher, or other entities. Let’s look at our Tik Tok example. Say this song you wrote, you decided to write with a friend. But, in the end, you are the one recorded it. You did all the mixing, producing and mastering of the song. That means you would own 50% of the composition and your friend would own 50% of the composition (unless otherwise specified), but you would own 100% of the sound recording. This comes into play when you are receiving royalties and looking to issue certain licenses. This also comes into play if you sign a record deal or certain publishing deals as many times they want to own the entirety of your songs. We won’t delve into that deeper for now just keep in mind there are two different copyrights associated with your song, each with their own protection.
This was a ton of information, and we just grazed the surface! Now that we know the basics of copyright, what do we do next? Register with a performing rights organization! In a future blog, we are going to talk about what a performing rights organization is and how it can help your efforts as a songwriter and artist.