Copyrights 101 - Step One in Selling Rap Beats and Hip Hop Instrumentals
If you are selling rap beats or hip hop instrumentals online then you will find this article about music copyrights useful.
author:The Quarter Pounder With Cheese
What is a copyright? In essence, it is a form of protection guaranteed by the U.S. law that prevents unauthorized people from using, reproducing, or distributing your work without your permission. Let’s cut to the chase and ask the most popular question by all beatmakers:
How Do I Copyright My Beats?
The answer is simply your beats are already copyrighted. No, you don’t need to register with the Library of Congress nor any department or office. If the beat is indeed your original work, and you can provide the original master files as proof when asked for it, then your beat is automatically copyrighted. Here is an excerpt from the US Copyright Office’s website:
[The way in which copyright protection is secured is frequently misunderstood. No publication or registration or other action in the Copyright Office is required to secure copyright….
Copyright is secured automatically when the work is created, and a work is “created” when it is fixed in a copy or phonorecord for the first time. “Copies” are material objects from which a work can be read or visually perceived either directly or with the aid of a machine or device, such as books, manuscripts, sheet music, film, videotape, or microfilm. “Phonorecords” are material objects embodying fixations of sounds (excluding, by statutory definition, motion picture soundtracks), such as cassette tapes, CDs, or LPs. Thus, for example, a song (the “work”) can be fixed in sheet music (“copies”) or in phonograph disks (“phonorecords”), or both. If a work is prepared over a period of time, the part of the work that is fixed on a particular date constitutes the created work as of that date.
If a work is prepared over a period of time, the part of the work that is fixed on a particular date constitutes the created work as of that date.]
Therefore, as soon as you have your original master files (i.e. Fruity Loops .flp files) saved onto your hard disk, then that work has been copyrighted. Just make sure you don’t ever give such files out or it would create a disparity of who truly owns what (because then there would have to be a hassle of further investigations to show proof that a file was transferred between two parties).
So Why Do People Register Their Copyrights?
Copyright registration with the Library of Congress/Copyright Office is merely a legal formality. It is intended to make a public record, but it is not a necessary condition of copyright protection. A registration is necessary, however, before an infringement suit is filed in court. Copyright registration does provide certainly advantages such as a public record of a copyright claim, registers with US Customs Service for protection against overseas (”importation”) of infringing copies, and early registration can automatically cover attorney fees in court actions.
How Do I Transfer Copyrights?
All transfers of rights to another party must be made in writing, with your signature validating the transfer. You do not need a long and complex contract written by a lawyer. You can write a sentence as simple as ‘I hereby transfer the copyrights of XYZ beat to John Doe’ on a piece of napkin with your signature in crayon scrawled on it, and it would be legally acceptable. Transfer of a right on a nonexclusive basis does not require a written agreement, although it is a good gesture and sign of trust to do so when you are selling leases on your beats to customers.
What is a Work-For-Hire?
This is where you create a beat for someone who pays you to do so, and your employer will be considered as the author, not you. Be careful of selling beats to a customer who is providing you with his or her own contract form (this is common in the case of selling “custom beats” to commercial companies such as record labels). If you are willing to accept that you lose even credit of authorship to your beats including copyrights for payment, then go ahead with a ‘Work-For-Hire’ contract.
If you want to understand more about copyrights in layman’s terms, and details on how long copyrights last, I highly suggest that you read up further on the US Copyright Office’s website.
author:The Quarter Pounder With Cheese
What is a copyright? In essence, it is a form of protection guaranteed by the U.S. law that prevents unauthorized people from using, reproducing, or distributing your work without your permission. Let’s cut to the chase and ask the most popular question by all beatmakers:
How Do I Copyright My Beats?
The answer is simply your beats are already copyrighted. No, you don’t need to register with the Library of Congress nor any department or office. If the beat is indeed your original work, and you can provide the original master files as proof when asked for it, then your beat is automatically copyrighted. Here is an excerpt from the US Copyright Office’s website:
[The way in which copyright protection is secured is frequently misunderstood. No publication or registration or other action in the Copyright Office is required to secure copyright….
Copyright is secured automatically when the work is created, and a work is “created” when it is fixed in a copy or phonorecord for the first time. “Copies” are material objects from which a work can be read or visually perceived either directly or with the aid of a machine or device, such as books, manuscripts, sheet music, film, videotape, or microfilm. “Phonorecords” are material objects embodying fixations of sounds (excluding, by statutory definition, motion picture soundtracks), such as cassette tapes, CDs, or LPs. Thus, for example, a song (the “work”) can be fixed in sheet music (“copies”) or in phonograph disks (“phonorecords”), or both. If a work is prepared over a period of time, the part of the work that is fixed on a particular date constitutes the created work as of that date.
If a work is prepared over a period of time, the part of the work that is fixed on a particular date constitutes the created work as of that date.]
Therefore, as soon as you have your original master files (i.e. Fruity Loops .flp files) saved onto your hard disk, then that work has been copyrighted. Just make sure you don’t ever give such files out or it would create a disparity of who truly owns what (because then there would have to be a hassle of further investigations to show proof that a file was transferred between two parties).
So Why Do People Register Their Copyrights?
Copyright registration with the Library of Congress/Copyright Office is merely a legal formality. It is intended to make a public record, but it is not a necessary condition of copyright protection. A registration is necessary, however, before an infringement suit is filed in court. Copyright registration does provide certainly advantages such as a public record of a copyright claim, registers with US Customs Service for protection against overseas (”importation”) of infringing copies, and early registration can automatically cover attorney fees in court actions.
How Do I Transfer Copyrights?
All transfers of rights to another party must be made in writing, with your signature validating the transfer. You do not need a long and complex contract written by a lawyer. You can write a sentence as simple as ‘I hereby transfer the copyrights of XYZ beat to John Doe’ on a piece of napkin with your signature in crayon scrawled on it, and it would be legally acceptable. Transfer of a right on a nonexclusive basis does not require a written agreement, although it is a good gesture and sign of trust to do so when you are selling leases on your beats to customers.
What is a Work-For-Hire?
This is where you create a beat for someone who pays you to do so, and your employer will be considered as the author, not you. Be careful of selling beats to a customer who is providing you with his or her own contract form (this is common in the case of selling “custom beats” to commercial companies such as record labels). If you are willing to accept that you lose even credit of authorship to your beats including copyrights for payment, then go ahead with a ‘Work-For-Hire’ contract.
If you want to understand more about copyrights in layman’s terms, and details on how long copyrights last, I highly suggest that you read up further on the US Copyright Office’s website.
posted by Yuwie Cash Money at 2:15 AM
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