Copyrights and Campaigns

  What is a Blanket License? A blanket license allows the licensee to use any song in the granted catalog. This is license is typically issued by a performing rights organization (PRO) to allow the licensee to perform or play any song in their catalog. This is useful when the user wants to play multiple songs from a catalog without having to license them individually. An example would be a bar or nightclub that wants to play a variety of songs belonging to a PRO. Other examples include radio stations or television networks that want to play one or multiple songs from the PROs catalog.  How to get a Blanket License? There are three major performing rights organizations in the U.S., ASAP, BMI, and SESAC. Blanket licenses are usually granted by one or multiple of these PROs and only allow the user to play songs from their specific catalog. Keep in mind, having a blanket license does not mean you can play any song you want, only the songs belong to the corresponding PRO. A helpful...

What is the public domain: The public domain is any creative material that in not protected by intellectual property laws. Just because you can freely access a song, does not mean it is in the public domain. Works in the public domain can be used freely without permission or licensing (paying royalties).  After a certain amount of time, all works will enter the public domain. The current copyright term is 70 years after the death of the last surviving author. This term has changed so many works have different terms currently. Some works may be entering public domain sooner (if they were not renewed originally). Generally, any work published during or before 1925 is part of the public domain. Songs from 1926 are now entering public domain. Where to find works in the public domain: It would be impossible to find all of the work in the public domain in one place because there are so many works that are not available online. Luckily, there are some websites that have a significant numb...

Music in Political Ads: Political ads are going to be broadcasted widely on television or the internet. If you plan on using a pre-existing song, it has to be licensed properly and get the proper approvals. Your campaign will have to get a sync license and it is expected to contact the song copyright owner(s). ASCAP, one of the largest performing rights organization says,"The campaign will need to contact the song's publisher and possibly the artist's record label to negotiate the appropriate licenses with them." This approval is important because political ads will be accessible on any compatible device. Even with a sync license if a song with used without this approval it will most likely infringe upon the artists trademark. Given these past two elections, artists are more likely than ever to address to take legal actions. How to choose the right music for your ad: The music in political ads has a different tone than music in rallies. It is important to use music th...

Trademarks: Before looking into how musicians use trademark law for licensing music, first we must understand what a trademark is. Trademark law like copyright law, seek to protect a creators intellectual property. Trademark refers to intellectual property of any name, word, phrase, symbol, design, or combination thereof that identifies it's source. The trademark is an identifier for the owner, creator, or business it belongs to. How does this relate to music in political campaigns? As I've discussed previously, political campaigns are inherently different because they can imply a political connection between the artist and candidate. Copyright law will only stop the continued use of the work or pay for damages. If the artist feels the song took away from their brand, it becomes an issue of trademark. Trademark infringement for this use addresses the damage to the reputation or brand of the artist or copyright owner(s).  Artists, like business or products, build and brand and f...

Music Licensing: In order to use a song that is not your own, you will mostly likely have to get a license. Music licenses allow a copyright holders to extend some of their rights to the licensee who will compensate them appropriately. Many licenses have set amounts approved by the copyright holder and Performing Rights Organization. This payment is in the form of royalties which is usually determined by a set fee, per-unit, or per-use. For any and all uses of a song, there is a corresponding license that permits that specific use.  Below is a list of the six most commonly used music licenses: Master License The Master License is owned by the copyright owner. Obtaining this license allow the licensee to use the song for an audio or visual project. This specific license only allows the use of the original/pre-recorded (no covers or editing). It is often paired with a Sync License which offers an additional use (see below). Use: To use the original song recording with audio or visua...

Trump 2020 Rally A recent and notable example of improperly using music in a political campaign is at the June 20th, 2020 Trump Rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma.  During President Trumps Rally, they publicly played the song "Won't Back Down" by Tom Petty. Although Tom Petty passed away back in 2017, his copyright ownership was transferred to his family. As the new copyright owners, they put an emphasis on respecting the wishes and lifestyle of the original artist. The family and estate was not notified or consulted before using the song. Later that same day his family addressed his use of the song. Their response was against the overall use for the song. The family said Trump and his campaign was "in no way authorized to use this song." Given the intense political climate, there was a lot of political weight behind this rally. Neither the family or Tom Petty would have agreed to use this song for this particular candidate. Knowingly or not this use showed blatant disreg...

  Copyright Law and Musicians Copyright law exists to protect and promote education and creative works. It extends to all forms of original work fixed in a tangible medium. For musicians, copyright law protects their rights as a creator to have exclusive rights and control over their music. All copyrights are valid until 70 years after the death of the last surviving author/creator. After its expiration, the work becomes part of the public domain and can be used without a license or permission. While copyrights are active, there are six exclusive rights that a musician and/or copyright owner has:       1. To reproduce the copyrighted work in copies or phonorecords (physical or digital);       2. To prepare derivative works based upon the copyrighted work;       3. To distribute copies or phonorecords of the copyrighted work to the public;      4. To perform the copyrighted work publicly;  ...