COPYRIGHT LAW

Copyright protection begins with the Constitution. The Founding Fathers recognized the importance of science and art and wanted to protect those interests. (See The Constitution, Article I, Section 8, Clause 8). But it was not until May 1790, when the first federal copyright law was enacted. This law only applied to books, maps, and charts. (See Copyright Act of 1790, available on copyright.gov, or using a simple Google search). Since then, copyright law has transformed into the law we know today.

The Copyright Act of 1976 protects various mediums including music, motion pictures, and computer programs. To obtain a copyright, tangible medium of expression. (See the Copyright Act of 1976, available on copyright.gov). In 1998, Congress passed the Copyright Term Extension Act, which extended copyrights by 20 years. (See the Copyright Extension Term Act, available on copyright.gov). Now, copyrights last for the author's life plus 70 years.

Copyright extends to musical works. Musical works are "original works of authorship consisting of music and any accompanying words. Music is a succession of pitches or rhythms, or both, usually in some definite pattern." (See Works of the Performing Arts, page 20, available at copyright.gov). For those unfamiliar with copyright law, it is imperative to understand that musical works differs from sound recordings. Sound recordings are the particular recording of the musical work. The resources provided in this Research Guide focuses on musical works, but a lot of the sources touch upon sound recordings as well.

While the Constitution and Copyright Act of 1976 are important to understanding copyright law in terms of music, there are some great cases pertaining to music copyright specifically. I will list a few of them for your convenience. Check them out to gain a better understanding of this section of law. All of these cases can be found online doing a simple Google search or on Lexis or Westlaw.
Some copyright and music law cases to check out include: (1) Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music; (2) Granite Music Corp. v. United Artist Corp.; and (3) Selle v. Gibb.