Copyright- What is it?
We hear the word copyright a lot, however do we actually know the meaning of it...? Many may have a rough idea as to what it is, but there is a Uk law on copyright, protecting the works of creative people, among the literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works. It gives the people. change to decide in what ways their work may or may not be used, as well as giving them the right to be identified as the author. The work the said person creates, has to be original. This doesn't mean that someone, for example, couldn't write a book about a subject that has been covered already, it just means that it cannot be identical. Specifically for musicians, if you write a song, for instance in a band, the general public would not be able to do anything with the piece of music until 70 years after all participants have passed away.
For writing music yourself, as long as song are recorded and written down, copyright exists, from the very beginning. To provide eligible proof of the song being your own work, you need to make sure it is written down in musical notation, or recorded, in any fixed form. It MUST be original work, now there are only so many chords in the world, and generally music is created by getting inspiration from existing songs or pieces, but as long as the track isn't copied word for word, or chord for chord, then you are eligible for copyright protection. Thirdly the participant has to be from the UK/living in the UK, as well as the track being created in the UK, to fit within the UK Copyright laws.
Some ways in which you are able to ensure that you are protected, would firstly be to send yourself an email, with a valid form of the song being held inside that email with the date clearly stated, this email must not be opened, and kept as proof of the song creation. A second way would be to send it to yourself in the mail, the time stamp will play a vital part in providing the correct proof that the music is yours, do not ever open the mail, unless absolutely necessary for approval, or even hand it to your bank or solicitor, they will hand you a receipt and hold onto it for you, however they will charge a holding fee. Moral rights are also given to the author of the music, this allows the said person to be identified as the correct author of the work, rights to object derogatory treatment of the work, i.e. creating a remix without consent from the author, the right to object false attribution, meaning you can object to being named as the author for any work that isn't actually yours, and privacy rights, which explain themselves.
The information collected above comes from Primary and secondary sources, giving me a wide range of research to analyse.
www.copyrightservice.co.uk. 2018. No page title. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.copyrightservice.co.uk/copyright/uk_law_summary. [Accessed 04 October 2018].
Primary source.
The British Library. 2018. How To Copyright A Song - The British Library. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.bl.uk/business-and-ip-centre/articles/how-to-copyright-a-song. [Accessed 04 October 2018].
Secondary source.
GOV.UK. 2018. The rights granted by copyright - GOV.UK . [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/the-rights-granted-by-copyright. [Accessed 04 October 2018].
Primary source.
PRS (performing rights society)- What is it?
The PRS pay royalties to their members when their work is performed, broadcast, streamed, downloaded, reproduced, played in public or used in film and TV. They commit to protecting the right of the artist and making sure their rights are always represented. They fight against piracy and digital technology challenges. Once you have signed up to PRS and are an official member, the work you produce will be registered on their database, they then claim royalties on the artists behalf whenever the music is used, then the individual works get given a unique code that they use to identify when the track is used.
So Copyright protects your music, it gives you rights over your own work, in comparison, PRS helps organise what you are entitled to when your music is performed and played out to the public.
Musical works: songs, compositions and arrangements. 2018. Musical works: songs, compositions and arrangements. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.prsformusic.com/works. [Accessed 04 October 2018].
Primary source.
PPL (. )- What is it?
PPL manage the rights and licence the playing of recorded music (copyrighted material) in many different areas, ensuring that the artist gets what they are entitled to, this includes, broadcasting, radio, tv, commercial networks, in-store music systems, gym classes, jukeboxes and in flight entertainment systems. PPL does not retain a profit for its services, the proceeds go to its registered members and those who own the music and deserve the money. People who have signed up to PPL can range from session musicians to major record companies, anyone who is entitled to be fairly paid for their recorded music, they are also able to collect royalties for their members globally.
Primary source.
The information collected for these protections comes from primary sources only, using websites that only include the laws and rights for the subjects.
