A copyright is a right held by the original creator to produce or reproduce, perform or publish their creation and to be paid when others would like to do the same with their work. In music, a copyright applies to both the:
1. Underlying Composition (the original song)
2. Sound Recording
Copyright owners can license their work for others to use the underlying composition and the recording and the performance of the underlying composition and the recording.
A Note on Copyright
Music copyright is a form of property. In Canada, a musical work is copyrighted for 70 years after the last author’s death. After that, it enters the public domain. Copyright grants exclusive rights to reproduce or perform the work, and unauthorized use is considered copyright infringement.
Copyright owners can license their work for others to use. The type of license issued depends on the use case. Let’s break these rights down a bit further.
Types of Music Rights
Reproduction Right: Covers the reproduction of the composition itself, often needed for physical copies or digital downloads (CMRRA).
Performance Right: Allows the public performance or broadcast of the musical composition (the written song) and sometimes the sound recording itself (SOCAN).
Neighbouring Right: Allows the public performance or broadcast of the sound recording, separate from the composition (ACTRA-RACS, Re:Sound, ARTISTI).
Sound Recording Right: Grants permission to reproduce the actual sound recording or master (CONNECT Music Licensing, Panorama).
Audio-Visual Post-Synchronization Right: These rights apply after synchronization and cover copies of the final audiovisual production that include the music, for example, YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and video-on-demand platforms (CMRRA, SOCAN RR).
Synchronization Right: Allows the use of a piece of music in an audiovisual work, such as a film, television show, commercial, etc. To obtain a synchronization licence, you’ll need to directly contact the music publisher or copyright owner of the song(s) you wish to use.
How do I copyright my work?
Copyright is automatically granted as soon as an original work is fixed, whether written down, recorded, or saved as a file, it’s yours.