TURN IT UP TO ELEVEN: 11 COPYRIGHT TIPS FOR BANDS

Source: Australian Copyright Council Information Sheet (G88) Music: Band

1. So how do you get copyright? Well, it’s free and happens automatically. Copyright exists automatically if your song/music is original and in material form. You don’t have to register or fill out any forms.
2. A song does not have to be the newest, most novel creation ever heard for it to be original; all that is required is that the song is not copied.
3. Your work needs to be in material form to be protected. What this means is that your music and lyrics (including raps) should be written or typed up, or recorded in some form (eg. iPod)
   for copyright to subsist.
4. Even if you are having a regular jamm session, not even this is protected by copyright unless the music is reduced material form. Therefore if you are worried someone is going to
   steal your work, keep written drafts or recordings of it.
   
5. Did you know that there are three different copyrights in recording a song? These are: the composition (musical work); the lyrics (literary work) and the sound recording.
6. What is so special about copyright you ask? Well copyright is a bundle of rights which gives the owner/s of the copyright the exclusive right to do a number of things with the work.
   These rights include: the right to reproduce the works (make copies and sell them), communicate the works to the public (ie TV and radio), perform the works, publish the works and adapt the works.
7. All songwriters should join APRA . If you write music and perform it in public, APRA Australia’s Performance Royalty Collection Society, collects royalties on your behalf whenever and wherever your works are played and performed in public. AMCOS, APRA’s related collecting society ensures you are rewarded whenever your works are reproduced. If your music is performed in public - for example at pubs, clubs, festivals and concerts - or broadcast on radio, TV (including pay TV), you are entitled to royalty payments. (However note that
   registering with APRA is not a required for copyright protection).
8. SO, when it comes to bands, who owns the copyright? A good idea is to state in your band agreement exactly who owns the copyright in your songs and recordings. This will avoid
   misunderstanding down the track. This allows you to divide up the works however you please, according to the band’s wishes.
9. Generally, it is presumed that people who create copyright material together share the copyright in equal parts, so if this isn’t going to be the case in your band, you should make sure you
   agree how the copyright is shared. You should then write this down as part
   of an agreement and reflect this in your APRA form (G88).
10. Are you playing songs written by other bands? “If the venue is covered by an APRA licence, bands can play covers of music by other people. If the people who wrote the song are not members of APRA or an affiliated overseas “collecting society”, the band will need permission from the writer or co-writers of the band before they can perform it in public” (G88).
    
11. Are you recording covers? If you want to record a song already commercially released you must get an Audio Manufacture Licence from AMCOS. If you want to change the lyrics or composition you need to contact the copyright owner, usually the publisher. However if the song has not been commercially released then you will need the permission from the owner(s) of copyright in the music and lyrics. 

For further information on Copyright head to the Australian Copyright Council website.