• Music licensing.
• Exploitation of musical work(s) and derivative work(s) by publishing and supervision.
• Copyright registration of musical work(s) in the United States Copyright Office.
• Copyright infringement clearance prevention and protection.

WHAT IS THE SUBJECT MATTER OF COPYRIGHT?

U.S. copyright law (17 U.S. Code § 102) states that COPYRIGHT is a type of intellectual property that protects ORIGINAL WORKS OF AUTHORSHIP as soon as an author FIXES the work in a TANGIBLE FORM OF EXPRESSION, now known or later developed, from which they can be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated, either directly or with the aid of a machine or device. Works of authorship include the following categories: https://copyright.gov/title17/92chap1.html  

Copyright law includes: 

1. Literary works; 
2. Musical works, including any accompanying words; 
3. Dramatic works, including any accompanying music;
4. Pantomimes and choreographic works;
5. Pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works;  
6. Motion pictures and other audiovisual works;  
7. Sound recordings; and 
8. Architectural works.

In no case does copyright protection for an original work of authorship extend to any idea, procedure, process, system, method of operation, concept, principle, or discovery, regardless of the form in which it is described, explained, illustrated, or embodied in such work.

ORIGINAL works are INDEPENDENTLY CREATED by a human author, (i.e. you create it yourself without copying, plagiarizing, or infringing), and HAVE A MINIMAL DEGREE OF CREATIVITY.  The United States Supreme Court has said that, to be creative, a work must have a “spark” and “modicum” of creativity. 

FIXED works are CAPTURED, (i.e. a work is fixed when you write it down or record it either by or under the authority of an author), in a sufficiently PERMANENT MEDIUM such that the work can be perceived, reproduced, or communicated for more than a short time. 

WHO IS A COPYRIGHT OWNER?

EVERYONE is a copyright owner.  Once you create an original work and fix it, (i.e. taking a photograph, painting, writing and recording a new song, poem, or blog), you are the author and the owner. 

Copyright law allows ownership through “works made for hire,” which establishes that works created by an employee within the scope of employment are owned by the employer (company, organization, or other people besides the work's creator).  The work made for hire doctrine also applies to certain independent contractor relationships, for certain types of commissioned works.  Copyright ownership can also come from contracts like assignments or from other types of transfers like wills and bequests.  

WHAT ARE THE EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS IN COPYRIGHTED WORKS? 

U.S. copyright law (17 U.S. Code § 106) provides the owner of copyright with the EXCLUSIVE rights to do and to authorize others to exercise these exclusive rights, subject to certain statutory limitations, to do any of the following:  

1. To reproduce the copyrighted work in copies or phonorecords;
2. To prepare derivative works based upon the copyrighted work; 
3. To distribute copies or phonorecords of the copyrighted work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership or by rental, lease, or lending;  
4. To perform the copyrighted work publicly in the case of literary, musical , dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and motion pictures and other audiovisual works; 
5. To display the copyrighted work publicly in the case of literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and pictorial, graphic, or sculptural works, including the individual images of a motion picture or other audiovisual work;  
6. To perform the copyrighted work publicly by means of a digital audio transmission if the work is a sound recording.

WHAT IS THE DURATION OF COPYRIGHT?

The length of copyright protection depends on when a work was created. Under the current law works created:

• On or after January 1, 1978, have a copyright term of life of the author plus seventy years (+70) after the author’s death.
• If the work is a joint work, then the term lasts for seventy years (+70) after the last surviving author’s death. 
• For works made for hire and anonymous or pseudonymous works, copyright protection is ninety-five years (+95) from publication or one-hundred and twenty years (+120) from creation, whichever is shorter. 
• Works created before 1978 have a different timeframe. 

WHAT IS FAIR USE: LIMITATIONS ON EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS AND THE PUBLIC DOMAIN?

U.S. copyright law (17 U.S. Code § 107) states the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include—

1. The purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
2. The nature of the copyrighted work;
3. The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
4. The effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

PUBLIC DOMAIN works are those that are never protected by copyright (like facts or discoveries) or works whose term of copyright protection has ended either because it EXPIRED or the owner did not satisfy a previously required formality.  Currently, all pre-1926 U.S. works are in the public domain because copyright protection has expired for those works.

WHAT IS COPYRIGHT REGISTRATION?

Copyright exists automatically in an original work of authorship once it is fixed, but a copyright owner can take steps to enhance the PROTECTIONS. The most important step is registering the work. There is only one place to register claims to copyright in the United States (U.S.):  the Copyright Office.  https://www.copyright.gov/registration/

Registering a work is not mandatory, but for U.S. works, registration (or refusal) is necessary to enforce the exclusive rights of copyright through litigation. Timely registration also allows copyright owners to seek certain types of monetary damages and attorney fees if there is a lawsuit, and also provide a presumption that information on the registration certificate is correct.

Copyright registration also provides value to the public by facilitating the licensing marketplace by allowing people to find copyright ownership information, by providing the public with notice that someone is claiming copyright protection, and by providing a record of the this nation’s creativity.  https://copyright.gov/what-is-copyright/