Understanding Copyright

So, you are a songwriter, the second your tune, melody and/or lyrics for a song or work leaves your head and takes the form of something concrete, for example, sheet music, a demo tape, a recording or even just scribbles on a notepad you are granted 6 legal copyrights for it. These copyrights are:

  • Reproduction
  • Distribution
  • Derivatives
  • Public Display
  • Public Performance
  • Digital Transmission

Separate articles explaining these 6 copyrights will be published individually to this one look our for those! When releasing digital music for distribution through a service like RouteNote you are required to provide information on two separate copyrights, most commonly abbreviated CLine and PLine. Both copyrights are treated individually and represent different rights for the product.