Copyright = for what, for whom? Flashcards
Copyright case study examples
Stravinsky - Greeting Prelude - (Happy Birthday)
Men at Work - Down Under - (Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree)
Both used music assumed to be folk/old in origin but were actually copyrighted
What is copyright?
- Intellectual Property Right (IPR) along with trademarks, patents, designs, computer software, etc.; a varient of the law of property that protects ‘intangible assets’
- ‘legal right in literacy, dramatic, musical and artistic property’
- automatic protection in UK + US + more
- dependent on ‘originality’
- covers publication, performance, broadcasting, recording
What is copyright for?
- compensates creative effort, enables creator to benefit financially, credit for creation (benefits from works exploitation even after creation and working life of creator)
- cultural works (music) have high production costs + low reproduction costs, protect producer against unauthorised reproduction
- incentive to create and innovate
- ‘for limited periods’ - until under ‘public domain’
How long does copyright subsist in UK + most of Europe?
70 years
Copyright in published works and recorded works in UK + most of Europe
Published - 70 years pma (after composer’s death) - extended from 50 years 1996
Recorded - 70 years after recording extended from 50 hears 2013 but doesn’t include recordings that entered ‘public domain’ prior to 2013, ‘use it or lose it’
How long does copyright subsist in US?
Works after 1978, 70 years pma extended from 50 years 1998 by Copyright Term Extension Act (‘Sonny Bono’/’Mickey Mouse’ Act) but didn’t revise expired copyrights
1998 Act, any work of ‘corporate authorship’ released since 1978 has 95 years from publication or 120 years from creation (whichever is shorter), work prior to 1923 is in ‘public domian’
Restricted acts (+ exceptions)
- Copying (not without a license) - unauthorised reproduction of printed music/recordings (e.g. can transfer own CD to MP3 but cant produce copies to give out but UK ammendment makes exception for ‘fair use in education + academic research), composers held accountable for plagiarism/sampling (case studies, exception for a few lines in a ‘parody’), unauthorised use of music in synchronised media (film, TV, Youtube)
- Performance - live performance in a public space (Corner shop case), radio/recordings in a public place (shops, pubs, hairdressers, public offices etc. exceptions - hospitals + places of worship + residential homes), music in synchronised media in a public place (film/TV in pubs/clubc/launderette)
- Broadcasting - seperate + restricted act from performance
- Recording - new recording of a copyright work need a licence/loan agreement unless in public domain, once made a subsequent copyright subsists in that recording
- Lyrics - licence from composer + lyricist
- Imag + branding - trademark legislation to protect band names + image (e.g. Blonde Jovi)
All venues that play live music + recorded music in UK require…
What about musicals/operas?
a licence from PRS for Music (Performing Right Society) + a licence from PPL (Phonographic Performance Limited) to play recorded music
Musicals/operas have ‘grand rights’ (‘grands droits’)
Copyright collecting societies (‘collective management organisations’/CMOS’s) in the UK:
- PRS for Music (Performing Right Society) - collect royalties from TV, film, radio, live performances (gigs/clubs/concerts/theatres), playback recordings (pubs/hotels/shops/offices/cinema), CD/DVD sales, digital service providers on behalf of songwriters, publishers and composers
- PPL (Phonographic Performance Limited) - collect royalties on behalf of performers and record companies
- Eos - Welsh language agency set up 2012 after PRS’s reclassification of BBC Radio Cymru as a ‘local radio station’ (no longer national) saw a 15 fold drop in royalty payments
Copyright collecting socueties overseas
France SACEM
USA ASCAP, BMI, SESAC
‘Direct Licensing’
- is the direct negotiation between copyright owner and user
- synchronisation (‘sync’) rights - music synchronised to moving images (ads/film/TV - existing/specially written music)
- ‘grand rights’ - music in dramatic context (opera/musical/ballet/contemporary dance)
- print music -sheet music produced by copyright owner/licensed to another publisher
Role of publishers
- no longer just simply/primarily print music!
- adminsister copyrights + collect royalties on musical works assigned to them during agreement
- promote use of composer/songwriter’s music by pitching it to performing artists, encourage live performances (‘performance promotion’), secure recording contracts, commissions, synchronisations in return for a share of royalties
- print music/licence others to print it
Sources of royalty payments for composers/songwriters
- sheet music sales (after production costs recovered by publisher)
- hire fees of large-scale works (after production costs deducted)
- sales of recordings including downloads (‘royalty-free’ licences becoming common though)
- grand rights for stage works
- live/recorded performances including airplay + streaming
- synchronisation rights (music in films/TV/ads)
£100 in royalties?
- 6.5mins of play on Radio 1 (national)
- 1.1mins on BBC primetime
- 1hr play on regional radio stations
- 450,000 online streams (~half a million)
- 17 live gigs in a pub/club
- 1 set at Shepherd’s Bush Empire
- 1 song Glastonbury
- 147 album sales
Who/what do current copyright arrangements favour?
- fixed-work concept - ‘complete + discrete, original + fixed’, difficult to establish copyright for involuntary ‘collaborative’ works
- classical musical 4.8% at box office (pop 3%)
- established + well-known’, popular (underrepresented music is overlooked)
