INTRODUCTION-

We all come across youtube videos or applications like Voot which showcasts TV serials like channels ranging from Colors to MTV and several times we wonder why some songs or some background music isn’t being played while it was played on the TV. That’s when we start to talk about copyrights and music licensing. For every artist or musician it is of utmost value that whatever they produce or invent which is brough to public via digital media or production houses, is kept as something that they own and nobody else. this exclusiveness of their work has been dealt with many times in this music industry. However, to the general public or various media pages that can easily copy their work and use it as theirs to entertain and increase their fan base, it seems absolutely fair and unplagarised. But for the original artist it can reduce its audience or even raise questions of its originality and source. So, we see that this small mischief of data copy thieves or plagiarists can become a big trouble for the original content makers as it was supposd to be there idea, their creativity and their work only. now, for resolving these types of issues that concern musician and artists of all kinds was addressed by making numerous yet confusing provisions in the way of rights and licenses to be granted to people in this industry. Every country’s government, has, in today’s time, already devised those rights and provisions for keeping the interest and stake of songwriters or recorders.

But the interesting question that arises is that how do musicians or song creators protect their work? For this purpose you will specifically require a lawyer who knows the ins and outs of music related laws otherwise it can get confusing. You would have to preserve your music from the ones that can exploit and reuse it to make their own profits. Furthermore, this protection is only guaranteed to you when you get your work registered under your country’s copyright statues and laws. It will help the musicians claim appropriate and necessary damages once their right is infringed. As we go about this article we will discuss all the types and categories of rights available to a musician in India.

HISTORY OF COPYRIGHTS IN MUSIC-

In earlier times, singers would go to the streets and sell their songs by simply singing them in front of bunch of random streetwalkers or passer-by who would enjoy and leave. That period of time didn’t value and respect a song writers ability to entertain and write music. Thanks to technology and awareness about the importance of music and musicians that today we have proper market for them. Now, we have provisions that talk about What copyright law helps to protect, How long your copyright lasts, What rights you have once you own a copyright in your work, How to enforce your rights etc.

RIGHTS AND LICENSES-

Let’s look into the rights that musicians can exercise to control the stealing of their first hand productions.

Synchronization Rights- These are the rights related to the visual content being put up in your show or music video, any animations or visual images.

Master Use Rights-These rights confer to granting of your records to radio or TV. There are rights which protect the mixing of various contents or various artists while they are recorded for their public produce.

Performing Rights-These rights can restrict the public performances done on your work. It is for the exclusiveness of your work while being performed live or in front of public.

Mechanical Rights-It guarantees the rate per unit of the production sold so that a minimum and maximum rate is fixed to protect the interest of music producer to ensure profits.

Following are the licenses that are different to rights in a way that they have to be purchased to won a copyright on your work hose time period is fixed and has to be renewed.

Direct License-It is to be obtained directly from the copyright or license owner without paying any sum of money for it.

Print Rights License-When your music gets printed in some physical sheet music and then reproduces , this license is used there.

Theatrical License-This is for every time your work is staged. In simple sense it protects the on stage performance of your creation such that it is not altered in any way you don’t want it to be.

Master License-This is often confused with the sync license but they are seperate from each other. This is for the owner exclusively and cannot be in conjction with the sync license.

CASE LAWS-

Pirates v. Business- This case will deal with a situation where some pirate technology takes over 30% of the profits and sales of a music company which sold CDs to earn revenue. So, the facts of the case include a company making an application called MP3 Plyer which supposedly could reduce the size of the music album to enable better storage without disrupting quality of the same album. After some time, a student from Boston University releases an application software called ‘Napster’ which provides for free peer to peer sharing of music online without bearing any cost. Whoever signs up in this community gets to share and listen to these MP3 files without any storage problems that earlier CDs were bought to resolve. Now, this online availability of computer speed and capacity solutions while listening to music reduced the usage and purchase of CDs naturally as people started to access the easier way through the app Napster. But later in 1999, the Recording Industry Association of America filed a law suit against this app claiming that such availability to public is infringing the copyrights as well as threatens the industry of music including all music recorders.

The court held that regardless of lawful usage of these apps or software that are readily providing for freshly brewed content of artist online for free, it has to be seen that this activity seriously infringes their ownership over their own work and legal suits will fall in favour of such artists only.

White Smith v. Apollo Music- This case serves as the foundation of granting and origination of Mechanical License in Music Industry. This case will deal with the importance and applicability of Mechanical License that will ensure the manner in which your work will be mechanically reproduced allowing only manufacture of piano rolls by some. The facts of the case involve a composer challenging piano rolls technology as a violation of owner’s musical work. The court first ruled that the piano rolls didn’t mean the copied work instead it meant taking some components of the piano machine and so this case was dismissed.

But later through a Congress regulation in 1909, the judgement was overruled. It was held that copyright holders must have the right over the mechanical production of their reproduce as well. To also keep the interests of mechanical piano roll producers, it was held that they could do so only after

the payment of a royalty fee negotiated with the owner of his production. Thus, this compulsory licensing of mechanical reproduction by piano rolls came to be known as ‘Mechanical License’