Artist Ownership of Masters and Copyright in the Music Industry
Masters in the music Industry
“A master recording is the original recording of a song” (amuse), meaning it is the most authentic version of the song, while all other versions of the song are just copies of the original, such as the songs posted on streaming services. All copies of the song and albums are made from the master recording (the “master”), which includes digital files online, vinyl records, and CD’s (copyright.gov).
Taylor Swift’s Strategic Maneuver
Swift decided to re-record her first six albums after the rights to her original master recordings were sold. They were first sold by her former label Big Machine to Scooter Braun’s Ithaca Holdings and later to Shamrock Holdings. All of this was done without her approval. Taylor felt bullied, but was determined to control her work, so she publicly condemned the deal and began creating new masters to ensure that revenue from streaming and sales would go directly to her rather than the owners of her original masters.
Donald Woodard is a transactional entertainment lawyer representing talent and companies in the music, television/film, new media and technology industries. He is a founder of the Carter + Woodard law firm in Atlanta, Georgia. Woodard has been named as one of the 100 Most Influential People in Entertainment by Rolling Out, and was a member of the Board of Governors for the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (the Grammy’s). He represents many top musicians, including Summer Walker, Flau'jae Johnson, and NLE Choppa. He shared his perspective on the Taylor Swift situation with us:
Taylor Swift re-recording all her old albums and releasing them under the same name but adding “Taylor’s Version” was a clever method in order to get ownership of her (new) masters. Rerecording gave her all the rights to her music and full creative freedom as well as the profits from the re-recorded release. As stated by Mr. Woodard, she was in a special position to do that, so it is not a method all artists are able to use.
Taylor had a big impact on the music industry because of her maneuver. Mr. Woodard discussed how artists’ recording contracts work as well as the potential impacts on contracts in the industry due to Taylor’s actions.
Due to Taylor Swift re-recording all her songs, record labels started adding in stricter re-recording clauses and longer terms for re-recording within new artists’ contracts so that they can protect their investment and continue to hold a large share of the artists sales for a period of time. Other artists are also following in Taylor’s footsteps for their benefit. Demi Lovato had been “re-recording some of her most popular songs. Hits like “Cool for the Summer” and “Heart Attack” are not only being re-recorded so that she is able to own them, but she is also changing genres and reaching out to new audiences and listeners” (Emily Carreon).
Benefits of Artists Owning Their Masters
Mr. Woodard explained how beneficial it is for artists to own the rights to their masters.
Owning their masters allows artists to make much more money off of their own work. Licensing the masters in commercial use as stated by Mr. Woodard allows artists to get paid up front. Licensing their masters to commercials, tv shows, and movies increases their revenue while also giving their work more exposure through different forms of media. Artists also earn royalties from streaming when they own their masters. Every time their song is streamed on the radio or on a streaming service, they receive royalties. Artists also have other benefits from owning their masters: “By owning your master recordings, you keep creative control and you’re free to release your music however you want via whichever channels you choose…. If an artist owns their own rights, they are in the best position to negotiate with a record company and obtain the best possible terms and controls” (Paul Hitchman).
Artists also gain a majority of the royalties from their music when they own their masters. Every time their song is streamed on the radio or on some streaming service, they get a percentage of the revenue from those streams. With the ownership of their Masters, they gain the full proceeds from all the royalties made from their song streams.
Why Most Artists Don’t Usually Own Their Masters
Lita Rosario-Richardson is a lawyer who specializes in entertainment law. She has expertise in copyright recapture, intellectual property, and legal issues relating to music production. Ms. Richardson was the co-founder and owner of music production company University Music Entertainment, and was its Vice President of Business and Legal Affairs. She has represented many artists, including Missy Elliot, Sisqo, Crystal Waters, Tank and Robin S. Currently, Ms. Richardson is the head of Shulman Rogers' Entertainment Practice. She explained why music artists that are signed to record labels typically don’t own their masters.
There are a number of different types of deals that artists sign that usually require them to relinquish some if not all control of their masters. As stated in the clip above new artists don’t usually have a lot of leverage when it comes to negotiating so they usually give up the rights to their masters to the record company. The main reason record labels pursue ownership of an artist's masters is because a majority of the record labels money is made from the masters and the artists catalog. Approximately 66.2% of large record labels total revenue came from the ownership of their signed artists masters (Haack). At the end of the day it boils down to money. Artists don't have a lot of leverage when signing with record labels but can gain a lot from record labels, so the best option record labels have in order to make a return on their investment in the artist is through the ownership of their masters.
Artists Reclaiming Ownership
Donald Woodard defined Section 203 of the copyright act and how it is useful for many older artists.
Since not all artists are in the same position as Taylor was they have to rely on other methods to gain back ownership of their music. In the clip above, Mr. Woodard mentions Section 203 of the copyright Act. “Section 203 of the Copyright Act permits authors (or, if the authors are not alive, their surviving spouses, children or grandchildren, or executors, administrators, personal representatives or trustees) to terminate grants of copyright assignments and licenses that were made on or after January 1, 1978 when certain conditions have been met.”(U.S. Copyright Office) This act allows artists to reclaim ownership of the copyright, but the termination of the grant can't happen until 35 years after the copyright was granted. Authors of the copyright must serve notice of termination at atleast two years before the termination date and at most 10 years before termination.
This act mainly applies to older artists that gave up their rights through recording contracts in the early years of their careers. It allows artists who signed into unfavorable agreements to gain back control over their music and the money that it makes, or if the author is not alive then their children will be able to reclaim the rights and receive the money from the artist's work.
The Berne convention is a beneficial tool for artists when it comes to the copyrights to their music and how it applies outside of their country. Ms. Richardson discusses what the Berne convention is and how helpful it is in protecting artists works outside of the country they record and release their music in.
Artists are not required to be in the United States for the protection of copyright law to apply for their works. Initially it was assumed that copyright law only applied in the country that the copyright was applied in, but due to a court ruling, termination under copyright law has been allowed to be enforced globally. This means that artists are allowed to terminate copyrights and grants in any country that follows the Berne convention, allowing them to regain full ownership of their copyrights.
Ms. Rosario-Richardson explained many different aspects about copyright recapture in the video below. She talked about the two different copyright acts, those being Section 304 that applies to works before January 1, 1978 (from the previous Copyright Act in 1909), and Section 203 of the Copyright Act.
References
Amuse. (n.d.). What does it mean to own your masters? Amuse. Retrieved November 8, 2024, from
https://www.amuse.io/en/categories/industry/owning-your-masters/
AWAL. (n.d.). Why owning your master recordings means everything. AWAL Blog. Retrieved November 8, 2024, from
https://www.awal.com/blog/maintaining-ownership-rights-as-an-artist/#:~:text=“By%20owning%2 0your%20master%20recordings,like%20having%20an%20upper%20hand.
Lipshutz, J. (2023, July 6). 7 key stats proving that Taylor Swift’s first two ‘Taylor’s Version’ re-recordings have been dominant. Billboard. Retrieved November 8, 2024, from https://www.billboard.com/lists/taylor-swift-taylors-version-stats-chart-numbers/a-big-difference-i n-total-streams/
U.S. Copyright Office. (n.d.). Termination of transfers and licenses under 17 U.S.C. §203. U.S. Copyright Office. Retrieved November 9, 2024, from
https://www.copyright.gov/docs/203.html#:~:text=Section%20203%20of%20the%20Copyright
Mogul. (n.d.). Understanding the significance of owning your masters in music. Retrieved November 9, 2024, from
https://www.usemogul.com/post/understanding-the-significance-of-owning-your-masters-in-musi c#:~:text=What%20Does%20Owning%20Your%20Masters,build%20a%20strong%20personal% 20brand
U.S. Copyright Office. (n.d.). What musicians should know about copyright. Retrieved November 9, 2024, from
https://www.copyright.gov/engage/musicians/
Soundcharts Team. (2023, December 31). 6 basics of music copyright law: What it protects and how to copyright a song. Retrieved November 9, 2024, from
https://soundcharts.com/blog/music-copyrights#what-is-music-copyright
Haack, B. (2017, September 30). Why are so few artists fighting to get back their masters? Retrieved November 9, 2024, from
https://www.grammy.com/news/why-are-so-few-artists-fighting-get-back-their-masters
Carreon, E. (2023, September 24). Why artists are following Taylor Swift’s lead and reclaiming their “masters.” Iowa State Daily.
https://iowastatedaily.com/281431/limelight/why-artists-are-following-taylor-swifts-lead-and-reclaiming-their-masters/