So You Want to
Record an Album ?
How to get started and get the best
result for your dollars
Copyright Basics
1. What is
Copyright
-
Copyright is a form of protection provided
by the laws of a particular country to the authors of "original
works of authorship" including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic
and certain other intellectual works. This protection is available
to both published and unpublished works.
2. Who Can Claim Copyright
-
- Copyright protection subsists from the
time the work is created in fixed form. Only the author or those
deriving their rights through the author can rightfully claim
copyright.
3. Which Works Are
Protected
-
Copyright protection exists for "original
works of authorship" when they become fixed in a tangible form of
expression.
4. How To Secure
Copyright
-
- The way in which protection is secured
under the present law is frequently misunderstood. No publication or
registration or other action in the copyright office is required to
secure copyright under the present law. There are, however, certain
definite advantages to registration. Under the present law,
copyright is secured automatically when the work is created. A work
is "created" when it is fixed in a copy or cassette/CD for the first
time.
5. Notice Of
Copyright
-
- The copyright symbol © , the year of first
publication, and the name of the owner of copyright are required to
be placed on visually perceptible copies of the works.
6. Copyright
Registration
-
- In general, copyright registration is a
legal formality intended to make a public record of the basic facts
of a particular copyright.
7. Duration Of
Copyright Protection
-
- A work that is created on or after January
1 1978, is automatically protected from the moment of its creation
and is ordinarily given a term enduring for the authors life, plus
an additional 50 years after the authors death.
8. Mechanical
License
-
- If you are producing a recording for sale
which contains published material, it is necessary to request a
mechanical license from the publisher. This license grants you the
privilege of using their song in your recording project. The usual
payment for this is a pro-rata share of 5.6% of the retail sales. On
independent projects it is customary to pay this royalty at the time
of duplication, not after sales.
9. Publishing
-
- As a song writer you may have written some
tremendous songs, but who will sing them or even know about them if
you can't make them available to people? Music Publishing companies
are in the business of selling and marketing new music. Since their
product is new music, their only source is song writers. They are
there to help you, the song writer, market your songs (and
understandably share in any profit generated by your song).
Publishing companies receive new music frequently from new writers
making it difficult to review it all. It does not mean that they are
uninterested, remember song writers are their only source of
product.
We hope this helps
you understand the recording process a little more.
For more info please
drop us a line at Chapel
Studios
-
- Compiled for Chapel Studios by Ron Drake and Steve Finucane
- © 1994 Chapel Studios
