Recent Developments in Copyright Law

[tonesponge]

In a conference I attended this year, I was surprised and alarmed to discover that US Courts have split recently over an issue that might impact many home recording artists seeking to save money on copyright registration by registering albums, instead of individual songs.

Basically, some districts have ruled that registration of a copyright on a compilation does not extend to the individual works in many circumstances. These decisions occurred in the context of electronic databases containing photographs by multiple artists, and the individual artists on each photograph were not identified.

As a result, it seems to me there might be a concern that an artist who registered an album and then seeks to enforce a copyright of an individual song, for example, might find that their rights to statutory damages and attorneys fees were not preserved.

There might be some circumstances in which we can safely register the album alone, but as a general rule, it seems like we should play it safe and register the works individually.

Has anyone else been following this development? Does it sound like something recording artists need to be concerened about?

 

[RRuskin]

In a conference I attended this year, I was surprised and alarmed to discover that US Courts have split recently over an issue that might impact many home recording artists seeking to save money on copyright registration by registering albums, instead of individual songs.

Basically, some districts have ruled that registration of a copyright on a compilation does not extend to the individual works in many circumstances. These decisions occurred in the context of electronic databases containing photographs by multiple artists, and the individual artists on each photograph were not identified.

As a result, it seems to me there might be a concern that an artist who registered an album and then seeks to enforce a copyright of an individual song, for example, might find that their rights to statutory damages and attorneys fees were not preserved.

There might be some circumstances in which we can safely register the album alone, but as a general rule, it seems like we should play it safe and register the works individually.

Has anyone else been following this development? Does it sound like something recording artists need to be concerened about?

Were these decisions based on a technicality; i.e., the claimants not itemizing each aspect of what was being claimed for copyright registration? The forms themselves state that the underlying works can be registered provided that the claimant(s) state everything they are attempting to copyright under the form.

Can you cite the specific cases? I for one, would like to read the decisions.

 

[tonesponge]

Here's an article I found on it.

http://www.fr.com/compilation-copyright-registration/

What is unclear to me is whether those courts require that all authors of the individual works be listed, without saying which authors authored which ones of the individual works, or if they require that authorship be specified for each individual work. I don't know if that particular issue was settled or addressed under thie fact scenario that led to this caselaw.

So the scenario that worries me is if a musician sits in on a song and writes an organ solo that winds up on the record. So, even if you name that artist as one of the authors of the album, does that still fail to fulfill the requirements to ensure registration of the underlying works?

Another possible scenario is if you have a song that's an acoustic guitar number, and your bass player and drummer sit out. So your bass player and drummer don't author any part of that one song. Does failure to specify authorsip of each song on an individual basis then make the registration of all of the underlying works ineffective?

 

[VomitHatSteve]

It looks like they're talking about actual compilations, as in with multiple contributing artists.

If you record a CD and copyright it as a single work, all the underlying components of it should be protected under the same copyright, correct?

So in this case:
Artists A and B submitted photos to be included in Alaska Stock, LLC's photo compilation.
AS licensed that compilation to Houghton Mifflin.
HM violated that license, so AS tried to sue them.
Then A and B tried to sue HM too, but their claim was rejected.

So if you as an independent artist submit one of your tracks to be used on a compilation somewhere (Let's say it's a sampler album for a local indie label), unless you've copyrighted that work elsewhere, you don't have individual protection for your track.
I'd think that if you already have an album featuring that song, you'd be OK though.

*DISCLAIMER* Yadda yadda... not a lawyer... blah blah... just my own crackpot theories... not legal advice... etc. You know the drill on these things.

 

[Chili]

Here's an article I found on it.

http://www.fr.com/compilation-copyright-registration/

What is unclear to me is whether those courts require that all authors of the individual works be listed, without saying which authors authored which ones of the individual works, or if they require that authorship be specified for each individual work. I don't know if that particular issue was settled or addressed under thie fact scenario that led to this caselaw.

Without having read the link you provided, the one caveat is when you register your collection of songs under one registration, the author(s) have to be the same for all individual song. So, the lyricist has to be the same person for each, the composer, etc. You can't have, for example, one lyricist on one song, then two on another. It has to be the same for each song submitted in that collection. I think this is only pertinent when you register your collection using the PA form.

 

[tonesponge]

Without having read the link you provided, the one caveat is when you register your collection of songs under one registration, the author(s) have to be the same for all individual song. So, the lyricist has to be the same person for each, the composer, etc. You can't have, for example, one lyricist on one song, then two on another. It has to be the same for each song submitted in that collection. I think this is only pertinent when you register your collection using the PA form.

37 CFR202.3 says that only one author needs to be common among all the elements of the single work. But I was looking at the copyright forms today and I couldn't figure out which form to use to register an album.

Registration as a single work. (i) For the purpose of registration on a single application and upon payment of a single registration fee, the following shall be considered a single work:
(A)
In the case of published works: all copyrightable elements that are otherwise recognizable as self-contained works, that are included in a single unit of publication, and in which the copyright claimant is the same; and
(B)
In the case of unpublished works: all copyrightable elements that are otherwise recognizable as self-contained works, and are combined in a single unpublished "collection." For these purposes, a combination of such elements shall be considered a "collection" if:
(1)
The elements are assembled in an orderly form;
(2)
The combined elements bear a single title identifying the collection as a whole;
(3)
The copyright claimant in all of the elements, and in the collection as a whole, is the same; and
(4)
All of the elements are by the same author, or, if they are by different authors, at least one of the authors has contributed copyrightable authorship to each element.
Registration of an unpublished "collection" extends to each copyrightable element in the collection and to the authorship, if any, involved in selecting and assembling the collection.

Is registration of a single work having different authors only permitted if the work is unpublished?

But according to the statute, it seems like there should be a Form SR for us.

Class SR: Sound recordings. This class includes all published and unpublished sound recordings fixed on and after February 15, 1972. Claims to copyright in literary, dramatic, and musical works embodied in phonorecords may also be registered in this class under paragraph (b)(3) of this section if:
(A)
Registration is sought on the same application for both a recorded literary, dramatic, or musical work and a sound recording;
(B)
The recorded literary, dramatic, or musical work and the sound recording are embodied in the same phonorecord; and
(C)
The same claimant is seeking registration of both the recorded literary, dramatic, or musical work and the sound recording.

But the copyright forms page doesn't seem to have one.

http://www.copyright.gov/forms/

EDIT to add, it looks like there still is a form SR, but you have to order hard copies to be mailed to you. They want us to submit on form CO, and you have to click a button to add additional authors. But it will let you specify that two authors both contrinuted lyrics. I don't see how to specify which songs though.

 

[Greg_L]

Copyrighting has to be the most confusing shit ever. There's so many loopholes and caveats that you really need to hire a lawyer if you wanna do it right. Reading shit on the internet aint gonna cut it.