You can’t have it! It’s mine! ~ Copyright ownership and Collaboration

In the music industry, you will inevitably work with another party to create a product, whether it’s a band, a producer, or another songwriter. Sometimes the collaboration process is smooth and easy- you all get together in one place (typically someone’s basement in the middle of the night) and have an impromptu jam session. Everyone feels the same vibe and you decide to put pen to paper to create a hit, or better yet, you break out your nearest recording device and record a live session- just to have something to work with later.  Other times the process is a little more complicated- your label pairs you with a new producer or songwriter and you butt heads, or your bandmates disagree on the direction that your next album should take. Either way everything that happens after the creation of an original product can be complicated if the correct parameters aren’t set up first.

So now what? You all wrote a song and created a recording. Are they one and the same? Who owns the copyright? What happens when its time to sell this work? Who gets paid? According to Joy Butler in The Permission Seekers Guide Through the Legal Jungle, the rules are very clear. With every musical creation, whether by an individual or a group there are two distinct pieces that are copyrightable: The musical composition (lyrics melody etc.) that’s been written down and the sound recording. As a songwriter, you could own both: you wrote a complete song then went into the recording studio with your piano and guitar and created an awesome acoustic recording.

Or, it could go something like this: You wrote  (most of a song) and you need help finishing it. You bring it to a producer who creates a track for it and adds a bridge as well as tweaks the hook. At this point without a formal agreement, both of you own half. Now when royalties come pouring in, or someone comes to you with the amazing opportunity to   use this \recording as the soundtrack for a commercial, they have to get both of your permissions, even though in your mind the song is yours. You might say, “ That’s not fair! They didn’t write half of the song, just a line here and there! My voice is on the recording too! And now they have as much power, rights (and money) as I do?”

Can all of this be avoided, you ask? Yes. Although music is a creative process, get your business in order first. If you an your band get together and create a song, sit down right after and draw up an agreement as to who owns what, and what percentage. Oftentimes this agreement is called a split sheet. 

This way when it comes time to register your work for copyright, you have a plan in place. Everyone knows how much each party gets paid and for how long. The same type of agreement applies whether you are collaborating with a producer, band, another artist, or your best friend.