From the course: Introduction to Songwriting

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Music law

Music law

From the course: Introduction to Songwriting

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Music law

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- [Instructor] Let's begin with the various areas where, as a songwriter, you'll be likely to use a legal document. The first area that comes to mind is the songwriting split letter used to document percentages of ownership after a co-writing session. I will say that in Nashville, the assumption is always an even split, no matter who contributes what in the creation of the song. The reasoning is that without any and all of those writers in the room at that given time, the song isn't going to be what it is. All this to say, documenting or having an understanding of the splits to a song, is essential. Next, copyrighting a song gives you the best legal case for ownership. I tend to this only when a song of mine is available for commercial release. You can copyright your song by heading over to the copyright website. Let's talk about record labels next. If your song gets cut by an artist on a label, the label owns the master recording and pays the publisher for any sales that are made…

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