How to Copyright Music, Songs, and Beats

Music is unusual: nearly every song contains two separate copyrights. Understanding both is the key to protecting your work and your royalties.

The two copyrights in every song

• The musical composition: the underlying melody, harmony, and lyrics. This belongs to the songwriter(s).
• The sound recording: the specific recorded performance of that composition. This belongs to whoever owns the master (often the artist or label).

If you wrote and recorded your own track, you may own both. If you collaborated, ownership may be split. Registration can cover the composition, the sound recording, or both.

Why registration matters for musicians

Music is sampled, re-uploaded, and used without permission constantly. Registration is what gives you standing to enforce, the right to sue and, with timely registration, eligibility for statutory damages and attorney's fees. It's also a clean public record of who created what and when, which matters in collaboration and sampling disputes.

Registering multiple tracks together

If you're releasing an album or EP, you may be able to register multiple tracks together. The Copyright Office offers options for registering several sound recordings (and the works they embody) by the same creator in one application, far more efficient than filing each track separately. Our group registration covers album-style filings.

What you'll need

• An audio file of each work as the deposit.
• The songwriter(s) and the recording owner, these may differ.
• The year of creation and, if released, the publication date.
• Whether you're registering the composition, the recording, or both.

Beats and instrumental producers

Producers can register instrumentals and beats as well. If you license beats, an official registration strengthens your position when a track is used beyond the terms of the license.