Who owns the copyright over songs? Singer, composer, or producer.

In today’s world, everyone enjoys listening to songs. At times we ponder whom this song belongs to? It is a common notion that a song is remembered by the name of the person who sings it. Common people perceive that the singer is the person who is the creator of the song. Few months before Masakali 2.0 was released. The song failed in creating an impact on the mind of music lovers, due to the remix of the song the original composer of the song tweeted negatively about the T series under whose label the song was produced and this created an impact on the mind of IPR enthusiasts. By the reaction of (AR Rehman i.e. the composer of the song), we can assume that consent was not taken from him before remaking the song. This article aims at clearing the doubts related to the ownership of songs. The article will also deal with the ownership of songs in a Cinematographic film as well as a song recorded for the music companies. 

A song can be defined as a lyrical composition that can be sung. Legally song can be defined as a combination of literary, musical, and artistic work. The song is made up of three components that are lyrics, music, and voice. Under Copyright Law an Author has the exclusive right over his work. The author of all these components can be the same and can be different as well. If the author of all the three components of a song is the same there will be no issues in the determination of copyright but when the authors of the three components of a song are different then there is a need for determination of rights judiciously.

Section 2 (d) of the copyright act defines the Author. The section also makes it clear that the author of lyrics, voice, and music can be different. Sec 2(d)(i) states that the lyricist is the author of a song in relation to its literary work ie lyrics. According to sec 2(d)(ii) composer is the author of the musical work and sec 2(d)(iii) States that the singer holds the artistic authorship of the song. The singer who has given his voice in a song is a performer. These components of a song are works that are eligible for copyright under the Copyright Act.

Following is the work which is entitled to protection under the Copyright Act

• Original literary, dramatic, musical, or artistic work
• A Cinematographic film
• A sound recording

The song is defined nowhere in the copyright Act. The copyright of the song can be classified into two categories. There are two ways in which the song can be copyrighted. First, the song can be copyrighted as part of the film. In this scenario, the producer of the film is the author of the song as he owns the copyright over the film. The same happens in the case of a music company. Secondly, the song can be protected in parts. The three components of the song can be protected separately. The lyrics can be protected under literary work, the music can be protected under the musical work and the singer can claim for performers right. The song can be protected in these ways now the question arises who owns the first ownership of copyright over the songs.

 First owner of Copyright in a song.

Section 17 of the Copyright Act states the right of first ownership. The author of the musical work will be the first owner of the copyright. Sec 17 (c) states that if the musical work will be composed in the course of employment, then the employer will be the owner of the copyright over the song. The first ownership of the song will lie with the producer. The employment contracts play a key role here. The ownership can be retained by the composer if in the agreement he has kept the condition for the same.

The Supreme Court in a landmark judgement IPRS v. Eastern India Motion Pictures interpreted Sec 17 (b) of the Copyright Act and stated that ownership of all the works underlying that were incorporated during the making of a film vests with the producer of that film. However, after the 2012 Amendment, A proviso was inserted in section 17 of the Copyright Act which states that authors of a work incorporated in a film will be the first owner of the Copyright of their works. The proviso added in section 17 thus overruled the supreme court judgement. Role of contracts in determining ownership.

Contracts play a decisive role in deciding the ownership of the copyright. If the producer has undergone an agreement with the lyricist, composer, and singer that they’ll be paid for their work and in return, the rights related to the song shall be transferred to the producer then the producer has the exclusive right over the song.  Protection for the Remix Makers (Section 51)

Section 51 of the Copyright Act states that if any person infringes the rights conferred upon the owner of Copyright, it will be termed as an infringement. However it will not be considered as infringement if :

• The person who is copying the musical or artistic work gives prior notice of his intention and pays royalties to the copyright owner of the original work. In the case of remix songs, the royalties should be paid to the copyright owner in Advance.

• The new work should not be marketed in a way so that it creates confusion in the mind of the consumers.

• The new work should be made only after the expiration of two years from the end date of the year in which the original work was made.

• The author of the original work must be given the right to inspect the account books related to the new work

Conclusion A song is usually not created by a single person, it involves the artistic creativity of different artists to combine their effort and the by-product of such an effort is known as a song. When lyricist, composer, and singer blend their works then a song is created. A song can be copyrighted in two ways (i) as a literary, musical, or artistic work (ii) as a part of Cinematographic film. So while determining who is the owner of the song multiple facts will be taken into consideration. The terms and conditions of a contract are a deciding factor of ownership. The terms of contracts decide the rights of various artists who contributed to the work.

Generally, the protection under Copyright Law for the original work is the lifetime of the author and 60 years after his/her death. Section 51 of the Copyright Act governs the copyright protection but there is a need for amendment in the Law of Copyright so as to make a more appropriate law for the age of remixes which would serve the needs of both- the owner or the composer of the original song and the maker of the remix version of that song. It should identify the significance of technology and provide solutions for a proper statutory licensing system along with a proper fixation of the amount as royalties to be paid.

– Devesh Tripathi,

Maharashtra National Law University, Aurangabad