Musicians, songwriters and many other creative people often worry that their copyright is not protected.
If you have written an original piece of music, as soon as you put the music into a written form or recorded form, copyright is created at that moment – and it is automatically protected by the law.
No one is allowed to copy, duplicate, sell or use your work in any way without your permission.
It is understandable that songwriters, artists and other creative people are concerned that other people will copy their work and claim it as their own. This can and does happen, and sometimes it ends up in the courts. However, there are some basic facts that you need to know about this.
Another misunderstanding is the use of the Ó symbol. The use of the symbol itself does not create the copyright. It simply acts as a notice to tell people that you are the copyright owner and should warn them not to copy your music without your approval.
Even if you are not a writing member of a band, the law gives you rights in your performance which allows you to prevent or restrict the exploitation of your performance and entitles you to fair compensation in the event that your performance is commercially exploited. As a writer, copyright law allows you to control the exploitation of your music.
The UK copyright legislation is found in the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 ("the Act").
It is a common misunderstanding amongst musicians that copyright is in some way "created" by sending a tape of your music to yourself in a sealed envelope through the post. This does not create the copyright It is merely a way of proving (should you need to do so) the date upon which you created your work.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
