Australian copyright council
“The exclusive legal right to reproduce and control an original literary, musical, or artistic work”
If only it was that simple. Copyrighting ones work is a very complicated and can be a very torturous activity. Especially when it comes to music as there are so many different sections and legal things you must be aware of. There are over 10 individual sections of info-sheets about copyright on the Australian Copyright council website. As i was looking at how to distribute the band i am in’s music on the net and how to not let someone “steal” it. I looked at all the different sections in music and chose the obvious one music:band.
This basically points out everything very clearly:
Key points
• There are usually at least three different copyrights in a recorded song: the lyrics, the music and the recording of that particular performance of the song.
• Working out who owns copyright in songs or recordings can be difficult especially if someone leaves the band. It’s a good idea to have agreements making it clear.
• In some cases, all the performers (as well as the person who made the recording) own copyright in a recording.
• If there are several copyright owners, you may need permission from all of them to use the material (even if you are one of them).
Extending on this are non-for profit organizations like APRA which help composers and lyricists to know what to do in a copy righting issue. This process can be a miserable one as their can be arguing and a lot of things to take into consideration. for example: playing songs written by other bands, recording cover versions, using samples ( huge for Dj’s ) moral rights, publishers and record companies, performers rights and moral rights for performers .e.t.c
“When you join, you transfer your public performance and communication rights to APRA. In return, it passes on to you your share of license fees from, for example, live performances and radio play of your material”
I also looked at the creative commons legal which i don’t believe is suited to my type of work or music. The creative commons license basically allows your work to be shared and changed in whatever way, except in some commercial circumstances. This could be good as you could receive an income when really you hadn’t done much to make it profitable, but it also can be a negative if someone is living off your work. It sounds like not a very safe way to go about things with personal lyrics/music that one is attached too. It also is non-revocable. So once it is out there, it is for all to play with. An interesting thing to think about though not for me and what i am doing.
2 years ago | Tags: multimedia
