Recording a cover song can be a great marketing tool—providing artistic interpretation on a song that your audience may already be familiar with. A cover can also bring notoriety to your art from people who were previously unfamiliar with your work. However there are legal implications to covering a song even if you are giving it away for free.

Copyright Basics

Let’s begin with the basics. A song has two copyrights: the sound recording (often called the master) and underlying musical composition. Recording a cover song implicates the latter of these copyrights—the underlying musical composition. The composer and/or songwriter is the copyright owner of song. The Copyright Act lays out certain exclusive rights that the copyright owner has with respect to their copyrighted material, such as the exclusive rights to manufacture and distribute the musical composition. In order for an artist to not violate the copyright law, the artist covering the musical composition with the intent of manufacturing and distributing it would need to obtain the proper license from the owner, usually the songwriter or the songwriter’s publisher (either directly or through an agent).

Mechanical License

Even if an artist is giving away the song for promotional purposes, the song still needs to be licensed.  The type of license required to record a cover version is called a mechanical license which allows an artist to use a copyrighted musical compositions on different formats, such as CD and as a digital download. A separate mechanical license must be obtained for each format.

Typically, cover songs are licensed with the songwriter(s)’ publisher(s). Publisher contact information can be found at the following performance rights organization websites ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC or with The Harry Fox Agency (HFA), a licensing agent used by many music publishers.  In addition to licensing directly with the songwriter(s), the publisher(s), or HFA, another option is using a licensing service company.

License Fees

There is a license fee (royalty) associated with licensing and using the composition.  This is called a statutory mechanical royalty rate.  The rate varies depending upon which format is being licensed. For physical pressings and permanent digital downloads, the Federal rate is currently set at $.091 for songs 5 minutes or less in timing, and payable per song for each unit distributed. For recordings given away as promotional products, it is not uncommon to try and negotiate a reduced rate (e.g., 75% of the Statutory rate), or even gratis (free), however the copyright owner is not required to grant it.  For ringtones, the rate is $0.24 per ringtone regardless of song length.  Royalties for interactive streams are calculated based on a fairly complicated formula, which you can find on the HFA website.

Synchronization License

If the artist/band wants to create a promotional music video based on the cover song, this requires license(s) as well, except that the license required is called a synchronization license.  The statutory rate does not apply, as the license fee would need to be negotiated with the copyright owner in all instances. A couple of factors affecting video synchronization rates include the nature of the use, for example, promotional versus commercial use, and the length of use.

Written by: Barry J. Heyman, Esq., with the assistance of Nyasha Foy

Barry J. Heyman, Esq. is the founding and principal attorney of Heyman Law,  a boutique law firm established in 2004 with practice areas focusing on business, entertainment, fashion, intellectual property, new media, and real estate. He is licensed to practice law in the states of New York and New Jersey.

http://heylaw.com