The backbone of the music industry relies on legislation recognised internationally under the Berne Convention 1886. This states that copyright for creative works do not need to be declared or registered, as they would be automatically in force. In the UK the 1988 Copyright, Designs and Patents Act (CDPA) gives the creator the right to control the ways their work is used.
Different types of copyright;
Music and Literary copyright (usually assigned to the music publisher by the writer), this covers all lyrics and musical works written in a song. The term of this copyright is currently set for the life of the writer and an additional 70 years. The rights to any income derived from the works after the death of the writer should be detailed in a will. A record label must pay a license to the writer / publisher for the right to use and make copies of this song known as a Mechanical License and collected by the MCPS.
In the UK, non-profit organisation, PRS for Music (Performing Rights Society) collect broadcasting royalties on behalf of its members. PRS charges venues, broadcasting companies such as radio and TV stations and any other outlet that plays music the public an annual blanket licence in order to generate this revenue. This is then paid directly to the writer and publisher respectively.
Phonographic copyright (usually owned by the record label / person(s) that paid for the recording) is the copyright relating to the performers in the recording. As of November 2013 the term was extended from 50 to 70 years meaning that the copyright could continue to be exploited and royalties collected for 70 years from the date published.
As with the music and literary copyright, the playing of phonographic copyrighted material requires a license to play to the public or broadcast and this fee is collected and distributed to it’s members by the PPL (Phonographic Performance Limited).
If you are writing music, playing live or getting any broadcast play (including radio), it would be beneficial to get signed up to both PPL and PRS (links can be found below).
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