Copyright and Licensing
Recommended Books
Find these and other books on music copyright and licensing in the print collections of Bracken Library. Books are split between the General Collection upstairs and Music Collection on the Lower Level. In the General Collection, KF 3035 is "Musical copyright" while ML 3790 is "Music business." Click on the info icon to see a description of the book.
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Music Law in the Digital Age: Copyright Essentials for Today's Music Business
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With the free-form exchange of music files and musical ideas online, understanding copyright laws has become essential to career success in the new music marketplace. This cutting-edge, plain-language guide shows you how copyright law drives the contemporary music industry. By looking at the law and its recent history, you will understand the new issues introduced by the digital age, as well as continuing issues of traditional copyright law. Whether you are an artist, lawyer, entertainment Web site administrator, record label executive, student, or other participant in the music industry, this book will help you understand how copyright law affects you, helping you use the law to your benefit. * How do you get fair compensation for your work and avoid making costly mistakes? * Can you control who is selling your music on their website? * Is it legal to create mash-ups? * What qualifies as fair use? * How do you clear another artist's samples to use in your own recordings? * What is the Creative Commons/Copyleft movement? * How do you clear music for use in an online music service or store? * Who decides who gets paid how much and by whom? You will learn the answers to these questions as well as: * The basics of copyright law, looking at the Copyright Act while explaining it in plain language * How revenue streams for music are generated under copyright law * The reasoning behind high-profile court decisions related to copyright violations *What licenses are needed for the legal online delivery of music * The intricacies of using music on sites like YouTube, Pandora, and Spotify * Deficiencies in current copyright law and new business model ideas
Call Number: KF3035 .B37 2017 (Music Reference)Publication Date: 2017 -
Steal This Music: How Intellectual Property Law Affects Musical Creativity
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Is music property? Under what circumstances can music be stolen? Such questions lie at the heart of Joanna Demers's timely look at how overzealous intellectual property (IP) litigation both stifles and stimulates musical creativity. A musicologist, industry consultant, and musician, Demers dissects works that have brought IP issues into the mainstream culture, such as DJ Danger Mouse's ""Grey Album"" and Mike Batt's homage-gone-wrong to John Cage's silent composition ""4'33."" Demers also discusses such artists as Ice Cube, DJ Spooky, and John Oswald, whose creativity is sparked by their defiant circumvention of licensing and copyright issues. Demers is concerned about the fate of transformative appropriation - the creative process by which artists and composers borrow from, and respond to, other musical works. In the United States, only two elements of music are eligible for copyright protection: the master recording and the composition (lyrics and melody) itself. Harmony, rhythm, timbre, and other qualities that make a piece distinctive are virtually unregulated. This two-tiered system had long facilitated transformative appropriation while prohibiting blatant forms of theft. The advent of digital file sharing and the specter of global piracy changed everything, says Demers. Now, record labels and publishers are broadening the scope of IP ""infringement"" to include allusive borrowing in all forms: sampling, celebrity impersonation - even Girl Scout campfire sing-alongs. Paying exorbitant licensing fees or risking even harsher penalties for unauthorized borrowing has become the only options for some musicians. Others, however, creatively sidestep not only the law but also the very infrastructure of the music industry. Moving easily between techno and classical, between corporate boardrooms and basement recording studios, Demers gives us new ways to look at the tension between IP law, musical meaning and appropriation, and artistic freedom.
Call Number: KF3035 .D46 2006 (General Collection)Publication Date: 2006 -
The Art of Music Licensing
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The Art of Music Licensing offers guidance on a wide range of issues to music copyright holders and those seeking to clear music rights for products and performances. Co-authored by Al Kohn, Vice President, Licensing for Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., and Bob Kohn, his son, Vice President, Corporate Affairs and General Counsel of Borland International, Inc., a leading software developer, The Art of Music Licensing includes detailed explanations of the formal requirements and basic issues that are common to all music licenses. This comprehensive volume explains the different types of licenses necessary to clear music rights for a variety of uses, including disks and tapes, performances and broadcasts, movie and video scores, computer software, and nightclub karaoke, among others. For a wide range of issues including royalty rates, duration, territory or scope of intended use, The Art of Music Licensing explains the respective interests of both the rights holder and the party seeking to obtain the license, and offers strategies for the accomplishment of their objectives. The Art of Music Licensing also contains more than seventy model forms and agreements, many of which can be adapted for use in a variety of licensing transactions.
Call Number: KF3035 .K64 1992 (General Collection)Publication Date: 1992 -
Music and Copyright
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The highly topical area of copyright law, as applied to music, is widely misunderstood by lawyers, business people, and - perhaps most seriously - the federal judiciary. More than ever, there is a need to understand music infringement issues within the context of copyright litigation. In Music and Copyright, Ron Rosen provides readers with a practical and strategic roadmap to the music-infringement litigation process, beginning with the client's claim or defense and continuing through the selection and use of trial experts, discovery, motion practice, and trial. Renowned for his expertise and career-long commitment to entertainment, intellectual property, and commercial litigation, Ron Rosen has condensed his experience into an essential guide for anyone involved in music-infringement litigation. Packed with elucidating examples from the author's own practice, Music and Copyright navigates the often thorny terrain between notions of the legal and the musical providing practical advice, case studies, forms, and commentary along the way.
Call Number: KF3035 .R67 2008 (General Collection)Publication Date: 2008 -
Copyright: The Complete Guide for Music Educators
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Don't let a copyright infringement lawsuit destroy your music program or your career Written in a concise, easy-to-understand style without confusing legal terminology, Copyright: The Complete Guide for Music Educators is still the only book of its kind written exclusively for music educators. It will help you understand copyright laws and apply them to your own situations in your school.
Call Number: KF3035.Z9 A48 1984 (General Collection)Publication Date: 1984 -
Musician's Business and Legal Guide
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Definitive in scope and written specifically for musicians and songwriters by top professionals currently working in the industry, this text demystifies the music business and the indecipherable body of law which shapes it, and provides substantive information on actual practices-with clause-by-clause commentaries on all major contracts in the industry.
Call Number: ML3790 .M84 2008 (Music Collection)Publication Date: 2008 -
This Business of Music: The Definitive Guide to the Music Industry
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The bible of the music industry! Now in its tenth edition, This Business of Music has been revised and completely updated to reflect the latest changes in the ever-evolving music business. Every chapter has been revised. An entirely new chapter has been added, asking and answering the question "Are there borders in cyberspace?" The answer is yes, and the book clearly and concisely explains what they are and how to maintain them. Commentary on recent legislation, a reader-friendly summary of the laws on copyright duration, and much more insightful analysis--plus fully updated lists of music organizations and important websites--make This Business of Music indispensable for musicians, agents, managers, marketers, music publishers and groups, colleges and universities, and everyone who wants to make music and make money.
Call Number: ML3790 .S5 2007 (Music Collection)Publication Date: 2007 -
Pay-for-Play: How the Music Industry Works, Where the Money Goes, and Why (eBook)
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The history of music is closely linked to the history of copyright law. This book explores how the law shaped music and the music industry. From church and court patronage in pre-19th Century Europe, to the effects of social media on music, this book explores the abiding influence of the law on music.
Call Number: Pressbooks (open access)Publication Date: 2023 -
Unlocking the Digital Age: The Musician's Guide to Research, Copyright, and Publishing (eBook)
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Based on coursework developed at the Peabody Conservatory, this book serves as a crucial resource for early career musicians navigating the complexities of the digital era. This guide bridges the gap between creative practice and scholarly research, empowering musicians to confidently share and protect their work as they expand their performing lives beyond the concert stage as citizen artists. It offers a plain language resource that helps early career musicians see where creative practice and creative research intersect and how to traverse information systems to share their work. As professional musicians and researchers, the authors' experiences on stage and in academia makes this guide an indispensable tool for musicians aiming to thrive in the digital landscape.
Call Number: Pressbooks (open access)Publication Date: 2024
Online Resources
In addition to print resources, the following websites and online guides can also be a great place to start as you learn about music copyright.
- American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), with BMI below, one of the two major U.S. performance rights organizations
- Association for Recorded Sound Collections (ARSC): Copyright and Fair Use Committee
- Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works and its summary from WIPO
- Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI), with ASCAP above, one of the two major U.S. performance rights organizations
- BSU Libraries Research Guides on Copyright and Scholarly Communications
- Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17), see sections 106, 115, and 1101 in particular
- Cornell University Libraries: Copyright Term and the Public Domain
- Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 (H.R.2281) and its summary by the U.S. Copyright Office
- Gesellschaft für musikalische Aufführungs- und mechanische Vervielfältigungsrechte (GEMA)
- Indiana University Libraries: Guide to Music Copyright
- Music Modernization Act of 2018 (H.R.1551) and its summary by the U.S. Copyright Office
- National Association for Music Education (NAfME): Guide to Music Copyright
- SESAC, another important U.S. performance rights organization based in Nashville, Tennessee
- Société des auteurs, compositeurs et éditeurs de musique (SACEM)
- SoundExchange, U.S. collective rights management organization for digital performance royalties on sound recordings
- Syracuse University Libraries: Guide to Music Copyright
- U.S. Copyright Office @ copyright.gov
- World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)
For Questions and Guidance
For questions and guidance, please contact Donald Williams, Copyright and Scholarly Communications Manager at Ball State University Libraries, or view BSU Libraries research guides on Copyright and Scholarly Communications.