X-Pozsed The Magazine The Music Publisher Edition | Page 8

The Basic You should
Know About Music
Publishing and
Copyrights:

Cover Songs
By Ken G.

M

usic publishing
can be complex
and confusing.
Our aim here is
to simplify the
most basic
concepts of
music publishing as they relate to "covers."
Covers are normally songs written by
established artists like, for instance,
"Yesterday" by The Beatles. But covers don't
have to be popular songs. A cover can be a
song that has been recorded by an unknown
artist. The important thing to remember is
that any song which you record that was
written and previously recorded by someone
else is a "cover."

Is It a 'Sound Recording' or a
'Composition'?
The first thing we have to understand is that a
song and a recording of a song are two
different things. They are two distinct
properties. These two properties are called
the "sound recording," (sometimes called the
"master") and the "composition," (sometimes
called the "work"). Music contracts of all
types use these terms to designate one or the
other.
Here we are mainly interested in the
"composition." The common everyday word
we use for "composition" is the word song. In
the following, whenever you see the word
song, you can think composition and
whenever you see the word composition, you
can think song. These two words are

08

synonymous and are used here
interchangeably.
Like all property, these two properties, the
"sound recording" and the "composition,"
come with rights. Just as you have a right to
determine who uses your personal property,
owners of the "sound recording" and owners
of the "composition" (song) have the right to
determine who uses their property. Who
owns what? Let's see by way of the following
examples. Let's say you record the Beatles'
song "Yesterday," probably the most covered
song in history. Since you have made the
recording, you own the property called the
"sound recording," that is, your particular
recording of the song. But the recording is a
cover of a song. You did not write the song.
You do not own the song. The song is owned
by the Beatles, (or more likely a music
publishing company, but more on that later).
The song or "composition" is also property.
Another example : Let's say three separate
bands record the song "Yesterday." We still
have only two properties : three of one kind :
the "sound recordings," and one of the other
kind : the "composition." To sum up, we have
the "composition" and we have the "sound
recording" of the "composition." Two
separate properties.

Intellectual Property
These kinds of property are called
"intellectual property." Other kinds of
intellectual property are books, movies,
paintings and so on. And, as mentioned

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earlier, these properties come with rights. The
particular right you have to your "sound
recording" and the particular right the Beatles
have to the "composition" is called a
COPYRIGHT. A copyright is the right to
reproduce or make copies. This right is
granted by the United States Copyright Law
and similar laws in other countries.
Only the owner of the song has the right to
reproduce or make copies of his or her song.
The owner also has the right to grant
permission to others to reproduce or make
copies of his or her song. So, before you can
record and make copies of someone else's
song, you need to get permission from the
owner. You get that permission by getting a
license, just like you get permission to drive
by obtaining a driver's license.
This license is called a mechanical license. By
getting this mechanical license from the
songwriter or from a music publishing
company acting on behalf of the songwriter,
you will then have permission to record,
reproduce or make copies of the song.

Publishing Companies
A word about music publishing companies
and the ownership of songs - The songwriter
is the owner of the song. But most
songwriters do not look after the rights to
their songs. Issuing licenses for the use of a
song, collecting the royalties, accounting, etc.
is a lot of work. This ki