Common use of IN THE MUSICAL WORK Clause in Contracts

IN THE MUSICAL WORK. Firstly, there is the copyright in the music itself, that is, the notes that make up the melody that form the work. Secondly, there is the copyright in the lyrics – if there are any. The person who wrote the music is not always the person who wrote the lyrics. And sometimes there can be multiple people who wrote the music and/or the lyrics. There could be one person who wrote the music and the lyrics all by themself. Or there could be five people who wrote the music together and two people who wrote the lyrics which means there are seven possible copyright owners in total. Thirdly, there is the copyright in printed edition. This is usually vested in the publisher that caused the work to be printed but these rights can sometimes change hands. This means you could be dealing with multiple copyright owners who are individual people or who are publishers. COMPOSERS/SONG WRITERS PUBLISHERS LYRICISTS