One Song, Two Rights: Breaking Down Composition and Master Copyrights
Setting the stage for a deeper understanding of publishing rights, song credits, monetization, and more
***The following content is for general informational purposes only and is not intended as legal advice. While it provides insights into legal issues, it does not create an attorney-client relationship. For legal advice, please consult a licensed attorney.***
(TL;DR at the bottom)
Did you know that a single song is actually divided into two distinct parts, each of which can be copyrighted, and even owned by different people?
The purpose of this brief article is to set the stage for upcoming discussions on some really neat topics like publishing rights, song credits, and music monetization. Before diving into those areas, though, we must first go over some of the terminology surrounding the one-song-two-copyrights concept, as these terms will pop up frequently in future articles.
The underlined terms here are all links to the relevant sections of our last article, “Intellectual Property: Copyright vs. Trademark”, so that you can easily jump to those sections and refresh your memory.
Our previous article explained the concept of intellectual property and the differences between a trademark and a copyright. As a reminder, copyright is a legal mechanism that protects original creative works and expressions of ideas (lyrics, melodies, songs, album artwork, photos, etc.). Some basic legal copyright protections automatically come into effect as soon as a creative work is fixed in a tangible form, but it's way easier to establish ownership, get enhanced legal protections, and monetize your songs if you register them with the US Copyright Office.
One Song, Two Copyrights
So, you’ve written and recorded a song. Amazing! Now you’ve got the physical master in your hands. Since your original work has now been fixed in a tangible form by you, it automatically has some basic copyright protections. However, at this point, you may be considering registering the song with the US Copyright Office for some of the enhanced protections discussed in the previous article. You probably (and quite reasonably) assume that you just need to register a single copyright for this one song, correct? Not quite!
A single recorded song is actually and conceptually two separate things, each of which can have different owners, generate different revenues, and be separately registered with the US Copyright Office:
The composition (also sometimes referred to as just the song), which is the song itself (the melody, lyrics, chords, structure, etc.), and
The master (also sometimes referred to as the sound recording), which is the actual recording of the song.
Let’s briefly dive into each.
1. Composition Copyright
A composition copyright (also sometimes referred to as the song copyright) protects the song itself; its melody, lyrics, and structure. Unless otherwise agreed, the default owner generally is the person (or people) who wrote the song. Other possible owners of a composition may include publishing companies, employers, bands (or their legal entity), ghostwriters, etc.
A composition copyright is generally owned by the creator(s) unless ownership is explicitly transferred or shared through legal agreements and arrangements.
Who exactly should handle the registration process for the composition copyright? Generally, the owner of the composition. And, if the owner of the composition owns both the composition and the master, then they would register both. See below for what happens if a different person/party owns the master.
2. Master Copyright
A master copyright (also sometimes referred to as the sound recording copyright) protects the recorded version of the song. Ownership of a master copyright depends on many factors, including, who performed, produced, and funded the recording. Possible owners of the master can include songwriters, artists, record labels, investors, producers, bands (or their legal entities), etc.
Ownership of master copyrights should be agreed to in advance by all parties involved in funding and creating the master recording, in order to avoid disagreements later.
Who exactly should handle the registration process for the master copyright? Generally, the owner of the master, unless otherwise agreed to. Remember, the owner of the composition and the owner of the master are not always the same. For example, if a record label owns the master but the artist still owns the composition, the label would register the master copyright, while the artist would be in charge of registering the composition copyright.
Ownership of Each Copyright
The difference between the two copyrights is pretty clear. Ownership of the two copyrights, however, is often another story.
In cases where a single independent artist writes, funds, and records a song all on their own, ownership is easy to determine. In this scenario, the artist likely owns both the composition and the master, and the artist would be responsible for registering both the composition copyright and the master copyright.
However, it’s not always so straight forward, especially when you start involving bands, investors, producers, and record labels. There can also be various flavors of co-ownership of each type of copyright. It’s critical to come to ownership agreements in advance, and to get them in writing.
We’ll elaborate more on the topics of ownership later, but the main takeaway for now is that ownership matters, and not always easy to determine.
Why the Distinction Matters
These two terms, composition and master, govern different aspects of a single song and can generate revenues from separate avenues. Understanding the difference between the two copyrights, composition copyright and master copyright, allows you to fully exploit all potential revenue streams, negotiate better deals, and protect your rights effectively. Each copyright is a separate asset, and maximizing earnings often involves managing both strategically. We’ll get into those details, and also talk more about what it looks like when different parties own the composition copyright and the master copyright, in some upcoming articles.
These two terms will appear in upcoming articles about publishing rights, song credits, monetization of music, etc. It’s important to first understand the one-song-two-copyrights concept and to be able to recognize the terminology to get the most out of the next articles.
As always, the topics covered here contain more twists, turns, and caveats than can possibly be addressed in a single article, and attorneys are constantly wrestling with the gray areas of copyright law. This article is merely a broad stroke of the fundamentals and should not be considered as a complete explanation of song copyrights in any way.
Let me know what other topics you would like to read about!
***The above content is for general informational purposes only and is not intended as legal advice. While it provides insights into legal issues, it does not create an attorney-client relationship. For legal advice, please consult a licensed attorney.***
TL;DR
A single recorded song is divided into two distinct copyrights: the composition copyright (covering the song’s melody, lyrics, and structure), and the master copyright (covering the actual recording). Both can have different owners and generate separate revenues. Understanding this distinction is key for upcoming articles on topics like publishing rights, song credits, and monetization of music. Properly managing these copyrights allows for better legal protections and income opportunities.