Copyrights for the Entertainment Industry

Copyright for the entertainment industry involves a complex division of rights. Because the creation of copyrightable works, such as motion pictures and sound recordings, often involve many contributors, these rights are divided accordingly. Each author is granted the copyright to the specific original creation authored. Copyright owners are free to grant licenses and control performance rights.

Copyright for Movies & Sound Recordings

Motion pictures and sound recordings are protected by copyright once fixed in a tangible medium. A motion picture is an audiovisual work fixed in film, videotape, or videodisk.  Fixation excludes live telecasts and screenplays.  Motion pictures are often part of multimedia works, which is a work combining two or more media. These works are comprised of multiple copyrightable elements. Each element is eligible for a separate copyright. A copyright for a motion picture protects the expression rather than the idea or characters in the movie. The copyright holder owns the exclusive rights to distribute the work, make copies and derivatives, and retains public performance rights.

Like motion pictures, sound recordings are often part of multimedia works. The U.S. Copyright Office defines sound recordings as “works that result from the fixation of a series of musical, spoken, or other sounds.” Protected sounds include recordings of music and dramatic works but exclude sounds featured in a motion picture and other audiovisual work. Copyright for sound recordings encompass a division of rights. Separate copyright apply to both the sound recording and the song. The record label that produced the music, singing, and sound on a recording owns the copyright to the sound recording. The songwriter or music publisher, on the other hand, owns the copyright to the song.

Performance Rights

One of the most common legal issues for copyright holders in the entertainment industry involves performance rights. A motion picture copyright holder owns public performance rights. A public performance occurs in a public place or by transmission through a broadcasting device. A copyright holder retains the right to grant permission for the performance of the work. An exception is granted for “home use ” and for nonprofit educational institutions. Educational institutions are allowed to use motion pictures without permission under the “face-to-face teaching exemption.”

The following conditions must be met:

• A teacher is present
• Viewing takes place in a classroom setting with only students present
• The movie is used to illustrate a core part of the current curriculum
• The copy of the movie is legitimate

A copyright holder of a musical composition on a sound recording also owns the performance rights. Therefore, the right to perform copyrighted music in public requires permission and payment of a licensing fee. For example, payment of performance royalties apply to radio stations, Internet sites, television stations, nightclubs, hotels, shopping malls, bars, colleges, universities, and to some stores and restaurants. Because of the complexity of collecting royalties from all usages, performing rights organizations manage licenses. It is hard to protect copyright when performing in such public venues.

Performance rights do not prohibit usage of a motion picture or sound recording if it is fair use. Fair use allows portions of copyrighted material to be used without permission. If fair use or an exemption is inapplicable, copyright law prohibits unauthorized use.