Essay 3 of 3 – Legal

Since the introduction of music to the masses, there have always been squabbles over certain works as to whom they were created by. Though not formally written into the laws to protect the individual artist, during the mid 1600’s, there were laws already in place to protect authors and composers from having their works reproduced or claimed to be made not by them. Prior to the invention of the printing press by Johann Gutenberg in the late 1430′s literary works (including sheet music and lyrical poetry) were both written and copied by scribes who spent months to produce one manuscript, usually done by monastic scribes. Gutenberg’s invention enabled copies of books to be made much more quickly, resulting in “the need to give original authors protection against unauthorized reproduction of their works”. When the printing press as introduced to England, it resulted in the first government copyright laws being passed the Licensing Act of 1662. This act established a registration office for written works and required that a copy of each work be deposited at a special place called the Stationer’s Company. This was followed by a more formal copyright law, referred to as the Statute of Anne, in 1709.

These laws would later come to be known as copyrights and copyright laws. Crafted out of necessity following Gutenberg’s invention, these copyrights not only included printed or handwritten literary works, but works such as sheet music as well.
Copyright laws as we know them today were the result of the Berne Convention of 1887. This convention followed the Paris Conventions for Protection of Intellectual Property in 1883. Both of these statutes, still enforced today, gave specific details regarding protection for authors outside their country of residence. The regulations, approved by the Berne Convention, required all countries signing this agreement to honor and recognize the authors of works in other countries. The Berne Convention resulted in the establishment of the United Intellectual Bureau for the Protection of Intellectual Property, which much later became the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in 1967.

In terms of the music community, copyrights are much more complicated than literary works. For a song to be copyrighted entirely, there were three copyrights that must be acquire. One copyright must be secured for the actual lyrics of the song, another for the instrumental accompaniment and the third for the actual recording of the song. To acquire such copyrights, one must take a compact disc recording of the song, along with a copy of the lyrics, fill out the proper paper work, along with the appropriate monetary amount, and mail it to the Library of Congress’ Copyright Office. In doing this, it guarantees that noone, other than the owner of the copyright, can produce and/or make money off of any three parts of the song. This includes even using a similar beat or sound as featured in the copyrighted song.

How, then, can someone who idolizes the lyrics of one song, or the particular beat or guitar solo in another, use these elements in their own musical creations? Or what if a television show wanted to make a soundtrack album for the show using copyrighted music? Or even, how could a radio station be allowed to play content that isn’t original to them? How would it be possible for these individuals and companies to use these protected songs, that they are not legally allowed to make profit on?

The answer : licensing. Music licensing is the only legal way for an individual or group to use a copyrighted song. “If [one wants] to use a song for any reason, [they] have to somehow obtain rights at least from the publisher, and possibly from the label as well (if [they are] planning to use a specific performance). [Listed are] a few examples of when you need to obtain rights:

• You own a radio station and you want to play a song on your station.

• You own a restaurant and you want to play songs as background music.

• You are making a commercial and you want to use a song in the commercial.

• You are making a toy and you want it to play a song when a child pushes a button.

• You are making a video production and you want a song as background music.”

Examples such as these are allowed to, with proper licensing, use the music for commercial purposes. In most cases, establishments will purchase what is known as a “blanket license”. This allows them to play any music they’d like throughout the year. These rights can be purchased from one of either two very large companies named ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) and BMI (Broadcast Music Incorporated). These companies handle “a catalog of about 4,000,000 songs” and simplify the process extraordinarily.

“Present copyright laws and regulations have had to undergo many changes due to changes in technology that resulted in the ease to copy other authors’ works. Copyright laws giving protection to computer software, music, photography and phonology have been much more difficult to enforce due to the ease in reproducing works. The Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) is an agreement administered by the World Trade Organization that gives minimum standards for many forms of intellectual property.

Although the TRIPS agreement helped introduce a more universal law regarding intellectual property rights, there is still a widespread problem with piracy involving unlawful copying of all kinds of intellectual property, including music, computer software, and numerous other types. “

Though millions of songs were now able to be obtained by businesses and restaurants, etc., for a fee, they were still not as easy for individuals to obtain. Individuals were still required to pay for music from any particular artist – that is – until the introduction of file sharing at the end of the 20th century.

File sharing allowed for individuals to send and receive files via the internet, between two computers. As the technology progressed,  illegal music downloading (also referred to as “music piracy”) exploded. With downloadable file sharing programs like Napster and Limewire, the need for laws against this transferring pertinent. The Record Industry Association of America (RIAA) led the forefront on punishing music “pirates” – taking thousands to court over copyright infringement, and still actively pursuing others.

Since the improvements made in music technology, more problems and loopholes have arisen that needed to be address. Through copyrights and music licensing, the structuring of the music industry and music sales themselves have greatly improved in terms of protecting individual rights to original works. Though piracy still presents a very real problem, steps are being taken to eliminate it.

And while some steps are being made to eliminate piracy, other steps are being made to remedy it. A non profit organization, Creative Commons, has pushed through legislation that allows artists to register with their organization and, in doing so, give certain rights to individuals – allowing them to use their works in one of four ways. The four ways are: “attribution”, “share alike”, “noncommercial” and “no derivative”. Attribution allows anyone to use one’s music, lyrics, etc. in any way they want, as long as they give credit to the original artist in the way the artist requests. Share Alike allows the same freedom, but only if the individual using the original has a license identical to the original owner. Noncommercial allows for the music to be used in any capacity, except for commercial uses (as in selling or endorsing a product). And no derivative allows works to be used in their entirety as long as they are credit, though pieces of the work are not allowed to be used aside from the whole. Creative Commons has made strides to allow artists to use and share their work within the artist community, while still respecting the original works.

http://www.wikihow.com/Copyright-a-Song

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_download

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright

http://www.howstuffworks.com/music-licensing.htm

http://creativecommons.org/

http://www.ask.com/bar?q=music+copyright&page=1&qsrc=2417&dm=all&ab=1&title=U.S.+Copyright+Office+-+Copyright+Registration+of+Music&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.copyright.gov%2Ffls%2Ffl105.html&sg=UNYLMUgLeRSnb1z67U5gv3dP%2BQPtXqb9wmCrV3n5cTY%3D&tsp=1259626545263

http://www.ehow.com/facts_5261846_explanation-music-copyright-law.html

http://www.ip-patent-news.com/history-of-copyrights-and-copyright-laws.html

Advertisement

~ by kizmediatech2009 on December 4, 2009.