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Understanding Legal Requirements to Protect Your Music

Music is a lucrative business; hence, it needs legal protection for many reasons. There are laws intended to protect, encourage, and reward the authors or owners of the music. It is essential to consider an original creation as a valuable possession that has economic significance now or in the future. Hence, any aspiring musicians or artists must understand the legal part of the music industry.

Protecting Your Music
There are reasons why protecting your music is necessary. While music is considered a business, it is a potential asset under the risk of duplication or copy by other musicians for financial gain or competition. What is more, illegal acts like piracy or unauthorized copy and reproduction of your music are among the notorious operation that is both prevalent and dreadful. One example is the $1 billion piracy case filed against Cox Communications due to copyright infringement by its subscribers.
In protecting your music, you go the extra mile of choosing the right person to collaborate. From managers, publicists, to members of your band – they all play an essential role in driving your music to success.
Benefits of Music Law
Music law defines all the legal subjects of the music industry. This law stipulates not only protection to the original creator of music but also awards them with benefits such as:

  • Proprietorship of an author to the music or creations
  • Exclusive rights to the author to control the music or creations
  • Ensure the author can profit from the  music or creations
  • Define legal actions in case of violations to your music or creations

As part of entertainment law, music law covers many legal aspects such as intellectual property law (copyright law, Trademark), contract law, publishing, licensing, and more.

Protecting Your Music under Copyright Laws
The Music Copyright law protects art – the sound recordings and lyrics of your original composition. The Copyright Act took effect on January 1, 1978, granting a lifetime copyright protection plus another 70 years commencing the death of the author. The author or originator has exclusive rights to the copyrighted works. Among these is the reproduction of artwork, selling or distribution of copies of artwork, perform your artwork in public, online streaming or posting of your music, and even prohibit others from executing any of the previously mentioned activities using your artwork.

Protecting the Trademark of Your Music
 Similar to Copyright, registering the Trademark of your music offers protection to your original artwork. Trademark protects the names, logo, titles, phrases, or anything that will recognize you as the originator. While Copyright is easy to obtain, Trademark recommends the presence of a lawyer before registering your mark. It is critical to disclose or use a trademark that violates any existing marks. Any brand that has a likelihood of confusion to existing marks is subject to trademark infringement. The duration of the Trademark lasts until the owner is using it.

Technology has done any business exposed to all forms of betrayal. Music, in its magnificence, is no excuse from this misfortune if precautions are not taken seriously both by a beginner or old-timer musicians. The laws governing the music industry is as complicated as the music business itself. Getting an experienced music attorney before dealing with any contracts or registering your music trademarks is recommendable.


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