Chapter 1
Music Law & Business Primer
Copyright the basis of virtually every music business transaction. Without copyright there would be no protection for musical compositions and recorded music.
Without copyright they would have no financial value.
Copyright is a form of protection provided by the laws of the United States, that is the Copyright Act which is title 17 of the U. S. Code).
Copyright protects: Literacy works, Musical works, including any accompanying words, Dramatic works, including any accompanying musics,
Pantomimes and choreographic works, Pictorial, graphics and sculptural works.
Master-Use Licenses these licenses is use as a pre-existing recording of music for audiovisual projects such as a movie or in a new record such as audio
compilation.
Public Performance rights the copyright act does not recognize a public performance right in sound recordings. Radio stations do not need a public performance
license to pay recorded music.
Chapter 2
Overview of Digital Music Law
Audio Home Recording Act
The first piece of major legislation affecting digital music. The Act imposes a levy on “digital audio recording device and “digital audio recording medium to compensate copyright owners and artists for lost sales because of copying.
The Digital Performance Right in Sound Recordings Act
The Digital Performance Right in Sound Recording Act of 1995 created a new right for owners of sound recordings. Under the DPRSRA, owners of coyrights in sound recordings were given exclusive “public performance” rights for the purpose of “digital audio transmissions.”
Downloading is generally defined as transferring a file from one computer to another. Downloading music files we usually mean making a permanent copy of prerecorded music with unlimited portability.