If you’ve ever considered obtaining a copyright for your or your band’s music, you are already aware just how complicated obtaining a copyright can be. One song alone can be subject to several different ownership rights – that is when the song is a joint work.

Also, many individuals in the music industry know that producing one song can require the services of several different people. It is rare to find a person who can write the music, write the lyrics, record the song, mix the song, master the song, and basically handle the entire production aspect associated with that recording. In fact, many bands write songs together as a group, but the actual production includes people not in the band.

Federal law states that a joint work is work that is “prepared by two or more authors with the intention that their contributions be merged into inseparable or interdependent parts of a unitary whole.” A song or other artistic work is considered a joint work when the authors INTEND to collaborate to create the end product. For example, a song is considered a joint work when one author writes the music and another author writes the lyrics for the music. The idea, is that it would likely be impossible to separate their interests later on.

Of course, the parties can always decide to divide their ownership rights differently and doing so may be more appropriate in some cases. For example, when one party writes the music AND writes a part of the lyrics.

There are some benefits to copyrighting a joint work. One is that a copyright for the joint work will basically last the entire lives of both authors. In fact, copyright protection stays in place up to 70 years after the last co-author dies. The copyright, and of course the potential value of this copyright, can be passed down to a co-authors heirs. At that point, the heirs will own the work jointly with original co-authors.

An experienced music attorney or entertainment attorney experienced in copyright law and the music industry can help ensure your rights are protected and make sure you get paid.