Music Copyright Registration

Copyright can be defined as the "Right To Copy". The party who possesses the "right to copy" is the copyright owner.

Under a system of National Laws and International Copyright Treaties, the copyright owner has the "exclusive right" to perform, display, print, record, or otherwise reproduce the work in any way.

Others can obtain permission to use someone's copyrighted work by receiving a License from the copyright owner(s) or their authorized agents.

Although music copyright is automatic — attaching as soon as original material is put into a tangible form, if your song is stolen you'll still need certifiable proof of (1) when your song copyright protection took effect and (2) the precise content of the material at that time.

So never play or distribute songs before registering them with a professional registration service such as 1710Media.

You are granted certain legal protections when your song or music is copyrighted. This is an "intellectual property right" that the government gives you (and most countries have treaties that also honor the copyright laws of each other, which grant you the exclusive right to the original songs and music you create.

And this song protection is granted for a definite period of time — which is usually from 50 to 70 years AFTER the original creator has died.

It can be lyrics, an instrumental musical piece, a full song, a beat or a poem -- the originating composer of the material is granted these exclusive rights to make copies of material, distribute it and/or make new songs or music from it (such as a remix of the original song or adding to it).

In addition, song copyright protection includes the exclusive right to perform the music or song in public and, with certain exceptions, other people would need permission to perform it in public. An example of when this can be done WITHOUT permission is if a reviewer plays a part of your copyrighted material while reviewing it. This is called the "fair use" doctrine.

These are "ownership" rights that usually go to the actual composer(s) of the original work, both the melody and the lyrics. Included is the exclusive right to basically do whatever you want with the material you write (while no one else can, without your permission or without paying royalties).

If the song has just a single songwriter, figuring out who holds ownership is pretty easy. Problems, however, can arise when multiple composers are involved. If there's no prior agreement among multiple composers, the law generally assumes that everyone has an equal interest. So if you DON'T want it to be that way, make sure you have a separate written agreement which specifies what percentage each songwriter has contributed, or how to otherwise split up ownership for purposes of future royalties, sale of publishing rights, etc.  

But keep in mind that just as YOUR music is protected, so are the songs of others! For example, while others cannot usually play your original songs, you as well cannot use someone else's original music as part of your material — often called a "sample" — without the permission of the original creator! To do this, you'd generally need to get a music "license" to incorporate someone else's copyrighted song, even if it's just a tiny section of the whole piece.

These are "ownership" rights that usually go to the actual composer(s) of the original work, both the melody and the lyrics. Included is the exclusive right to basically do whatever you want with the material you write (while no one else can, without your permission or without paying royalties).

The material protected can be pretty much anything original - a beat, a full song, a musical instrumental, or just lyrics or a poem. The creator of such material is granted these exclusive rights to make copies, or distribute, play it, or make new versions (or remixes) of the originals.

This can also include the exclusive right to perform the song or musical piece in front of others and, except for certain situations, other people need to get the holder's permission before performing the work in public (one such exception is called the "fair use" exception, when, for example, someone who is reviewing the work uses part of it in that review.  In such cases, no permission from the song's owner is needed).

(One point many don't realize is that song titles are NOT copyrightable.  That's why you've seen many books, movies, and songs with the same or similar titles. Only the actual CONTENT is protected, not the title.)

And regarding exclusive rights, it works equally for both song owners and members of the public. Just as the song's owner can do what he or she wants with the material, so must the consumer HONOR the intellectual property rights of others! Not doing so is not only illegal, but it's also unethical. It's that old Golden Rule: Just as you wouldn't want someone else stealing your work, don't steal someone else's! (An example, without even realizing it, can come when you consider incorporating a "sample" of someone else's work into your own material without first getting permission or a license to do so.

Copyright protection is automatic. The act of creating and fixing the work also creates the Copyright. There is no requirement to register for Copyright.

For example, copyright in musical work and/or sound recording begins automatically once a piece of music is created and recorded (e.g. on video, tape or CD or by simply writing down the notation of a score).

In Nigeria, copyright in musical work holds for the lifetime of the author and seventy years after the death of the author, while copyright in sound recording holds for fifty years after the end of the year in which the recording was first published.

Copyright is an exclusive right and gives the creator or owner of a work a “basket of rights”, which includes; the sole right to reproduce the copyrighted work in any material form, to publish the work, to perform the work in public, to make any cinematograph film or a record in respect of the work, to broadcast or communicate the work to the public by loudspeaker or other similar device, to issue sell or rent copies to the public, etc.