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Music law is used to describe the legal aspects of the music industry and, to an extent, legal aspects in other sectors of the entertainment industry. The music industry includes record labels, music publishers, merchandisers, the live events sector and of course performers and artists. The entertainment sector includes film, television, dance, theatre and video games.

The terms "music law" and "entertainment law", along with "business affairs", are used by the music and entertainment industries themselves and should not be thought of as academic definitions. Indeed, music law covers a range of traditional legal subjects including intellectual property law (copyright law, trademarks, image publicity rights, design rights), competition law, bankruptcy law, contract law, defamation and, for the live events industry, immigration law, health and safety law, and licensing.

Lawyers
Within the music and entertainment industries, there are lawyers who specialize in one or more areas of music and entertainment law. Most practicing lawyers have knowledge of appropriate contract law and intellectual property law within the jurisdiction they practice in, and, where appropriate, at least a working knowledge of US and UK contract law and US and European intellectual property law, as the recording industry in particular is US-centric. As per the United States Copyright Office, an original song or lyrics is copyrighted as long as it is 'fixed in a tangible medium of expression'. Sending the content to the Copyright Office will help register the copyright.

Copyright
Musicians do not have to send their material to the Copyright Office in Washington D.C. in order to keep people from stealing their ideas. Once music is recorded and/or lyrics are documented, you own a copyright. As soon as the material is fixed in “a tangible medium of expression” it is copyrighted. In order to protect your copyright completely, you must send your “tangible medium of expression” to the Copyright Office to be registered.

Publishing
Publishing is the primary source of income for musicians writing their own music. The publishing money will go only to the person with the copyright for that song, so often the artist performing the song does not receive revenue from this source. Often times, songwriters will work for bands to help them with lyrics and music to play, but here again, the writer of the song is the owner of it and gets the copyrights to it, and thus the publishing money. Copyrights are not the same as sound recordings. Someone can record a song and sell it to another band or company. As a result, that particular company will own the recording, but not the song. The original writer will always maintain the copyright for that particular song. The publishing money is connected to the copyright, so the owner will be the only one making money off of the song itself.

Both the recorded music sector and music publishing sector have their foundations in intellectual property law and all of the major recording labels and major music publishers and many independent record labels and publishers have dedicated "business and legal affairs" departments with in-house lawyers whose role is not only to secure intellectual property rights from recording artists, performers and songwriters but also to exploit those rights and protect those rights on a global basis. There are a number of specialist independent law firms around the world who advise on music and entertainment law whose clients include recording artists, performers, producers, songwriters, labels, music publishers, stage and set designers, choreographers, graphic artists, games designers, merchandisers, broadcasters, artist managers, distributors, collection societies and the live events sector (which further includes festivals, venues, promoters, booking agents and production service providers such as lighting and staging companies).

Business
The U.S. Government views artists that give concerts and sell merchandise as a business. For this reason, it is important for musicians to get legal business licenses. These can be obtained at a city hall or local government center. The business license will require the tracking of sales, wages, and gigs. A tax ID is also necessary for all businesses. Musicians that skip the tax ID process and do not report their income and losses to the government can face serious consequences.

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Rees, Stuart M. "Music Law." Starving Artists Law, Esq. 2001-2003

Kakuk, Michael S. "Music Law 101." Attorney 1996-2000

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"Copyright Resource Center." Music Publishers Association of the United States Arts and Advocacy, New York, NY 2004-2011

Lindenbaum, John "Music Sampling and Copyright Law." Princeton University Center for the Arts and Cultural Studies, April 1999