A lot of buzz exists for the term “music copyright free”. While you can register your works for a fee in your government copyright office; you might asked: Is there such thing where you can secure copyright evidence for free? The answer is yes. It is possible in theory to make your music copyrighted for free. If you are a beginner in music copyright, you need to know the following:
1.) Copyright is a right to copy. The creator of a work has the right to copy and exploit it commercially. To make an object copyrightable it should satisfy the following:
a.) Original
b.) Not an idea but can be tangible and can be seen.
2.) The copyright date according to the law starts the moment an idea is transform into physical evidence. For example, say you are humming music or songs in your head. The music is not still created according to the copyright law because it does not satisfy the conditions above which is tangible and can be seen. The music is still an “idea” which is not copyrightable.
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Someone asked a question relating to classical music licensing and copyrights:
“Why is it Beethoven’s compositions still existing? Is it really because they are protected with the copyright law?”
The short answer is YES. The details are as follows. There are two forms of copyright that is important to classical music. The first is the copyright of the composition. This protects the following elements:
a.) Music – its notes, timbre, harmony etc. Music is written out by the composer into musical sheets which are tangible and can be seen thus copyrightable.
b.) Accompanying lyrics – in some compositions which are not instrumental by nature, it includes lyrics which are also protected by the copyright of a musical composition.
Copyright of musical composition has a duration or life. In some countries or most countries the duration is around 50 years since first registered or created. After this period, if the author is already dead or no heir that will renew or continue the copyright ownership, the music will be placed in public domain. Once in public domain, anyone can copy the compositions and decide whatever they wish to do with the compositions without the need to asked permission to the author or to anyone.
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This blog receives some inquiries from the readers asking questions pertaining to licensing and music publishing. Since these questions might also be asked again in the future by other readers, I will be summarizing everything in this post for others to refer. As a disclaimer, take note that I am not an entertainment lawyer and my suggestion does not constitute a legal advice. By all means if you find your inquiry sensitive and serious, you should be hiring an entertainment lawyer. Please contact me personally if I you need some reference to good entertainment lawyers.
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Question #1:
Many thanks for your time and information – very helpful and interesting. My next question then is – how do I get a license for these 2 songs? Who do I contact? If the expense turned out to be as your situation ($500) – we also would not put covers on-line. However, I would like to find out how much the licenses would be in this case. If you can advise further, I’d be very grateful.
-Sheila
My reply:
Hi Sheila,
To get a license for those two songs so that you can include it your CD project, you need permission from the music publisher or in Harry Fox agency. Sometimes the music publisher of the song you are looking can be hard to locate. In this case, you need to contact Harry Fox Agency and get information from them regarding its publisher. Since you are covering a song from a well-known band (Led Zeppelin), the music publisher might not be very hard to find. The license covers what you are allowed to do; the licensing cost will vary depending on your usage and number of copies that you wish to sell.
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