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Music Law is used to describe the legal aspects of the music industry and certain 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 industry 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.

To Do
-Rewrite certain part of article too essay like

-History Section

-Rewrite vs remove

-more global sense of the term (music law is only being used in terms of US law

Definitions

 * “A “compilation” is a work formed by the collection and assembling of preexisting materials or of data that are selected, coordinated, or arranged in such a way that the resulting work as a whole constitutes an original work of authorship. The term “compilation” includes collective works.
 * “Copies” are material objects, other than phonorecords, in which a work is fixed by any method now known or later developed, and from which the work can be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated, either directly or with the aid of a machine or device. The term “copies” includes the material object, other than a phonorecord, in which the work is first fixed.
 * “Sound recordings” are works that result from the fixation of a series of musical, spoken, or other sounds, but not including the sounds accompanying a motion picture or other audiovisual work, regardless of the nature of the material objects, such as disks, tapes, or other phonorecords, in which they are embodied.
 * “Copyright owner”, with respect to any one of the exclusive rights comprised in a copyright, refers to the owner of that particular right .”

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.

A good source of information for US readers is the United States Copyright Office which is also the register of copyrights in the USA. There are other links below for both the USA and other jurisdictions.

Music law is increasingly a global topic. With a worldwide market, the digital revolution and the internet, intellectual property law is often playing 'catch up' as technology changes at a rapid pace.

Publishing
Publishing is the primary source of income for musicians writing their own music. Money collected form the 'publishing' rights is ultimately destined for songwriters - the composers of works, whether or not they are the recording artiste or performer. Often, 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 will own the copyrights in the song and thus will be entitled to the publishing revenues. Copyrights in compositions are NOT the same as sound recordings. A recording artiste 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. All successful songwriters will join a collection society (such as ASCAP and BMI in the USA, JASRAC in Japan GEMA in Germany and PRS for Music in the UK) and many will enter into agreements with music publishing companies who will exploit their works on the songwriters behalf for a share of ownership, although many of these deals involve the transfer (assignment) of copyright from the songwriter to the music publisher.

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 US Government views artists that give concerts and sell merchandise as a business. Bands that tour internationally will also face a plethora of legislation around the world including health and safety laws, immigration laws and tax legislation. Also, many relationships are governed by often complex contractual agreements.

In the US 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 fail to comply with the tax ID process and do not report their profits and losses to the government can face serious consequences with the IRS.

"Music: Copyright Law." Educational CyberPlayGround, Inc. 1997

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

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

Standler, Ronald B. "Music Copyright Law in the USA." 2008-2009

"Public Domain Music." Haven Sound, Inc. 2006

"Copyright Law of the United States and Related Laws Contained in Title 17 of the United States Code." U.S. Copyright Office, Washington D.C. 2009

"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