- Publication Date: March 25th, 2025
- ISBN: 9781683286738
- Subject: Entertainment Law
- Series: Nutshells
- Type: Overviews
- Description: This introduction to music law is a compact guide to the legal issues that arise in all corners of the music industry, with particular emphasis on the decisions faced by songwriters and performing artists throughout their careers. The book covers all relevant aspects of copyright law, such as authorship, termination rights, re-recording rights, infringement, and fair use. It gives detailed attention to the roles of publishers, rights administrators, record labels, PROs, SoundExchange, and the new Mechanical Licensing Collective, and explains the array of contracts that are crucial to music exploitation, including publishing agreements, recording contracts, mechanical licenses, synchronization licenses, public performance licenses, and master recording licenses. The complex licensing scheme that applies to streaming platforms is explained in a user-friendly manner. Key aspects of trademark law are considered, including the ownership of band names. The book also explores an artist’s right to prevent the misappropriation of his or her personal identity, including name, likeness, and voice, and addresses topical issues and legislative developments related to artificial intelligence, postmortem rights, and digital replicas. Where the assertion of intellectual property rights threatens artistic freedom, First Amendment protection for creative expression receives thorough attention.
