Introductory Resources
The following resources provide good introductions to the music industry and the legal issues it most commonly faces:
Entertainment Law in a Nutshell by
This compact reference gives a big picture overview of the intellectual property, contract, publicity, estate planning, and First Amendment issues that contribute to the field of entertainment law. Professor Burr also addresses specific legal issues that arise in the film, music, and television industries, including discussion of the rise of "reality" television. This Nutshell is ideal as a secondary text to accompany any entertainment law casebook, as the primary text for a seminar, or as background information for someone requiring an overview.
Call Number: Main Level - Study Aids ; REF KF4290 .B87 2021ISBN: 9781636590837Publication Date: 2021-06-14
All You Need to Know about the Music Business by
All You Need to Know About the Music Business by veteran music lawyer Don Passman--dubbed "the industry bible" by the Los Angeles Times--is now updated to address the biggest transformation of the music industry yet: streaming. For more than twenty-five years, All You Need to Know About the Music Business has been universally regarded as the definitive guide to the music industry. Now in its tenth edition, Donald Passman leads novices and experts alike through what has been the most profound change in the music business since the days of wax cylinders and piano rolls. For the first time in history, music is no longer monetized by selling something--it's monetized by how many times listeners stream a song. And that completely changes the ecosystem of the business, as Passman explains in detail. Since the advent of file-sharing technology in the late 1990s to the creation of the iPod, the music industry has been teetering on the brink of a major transformation--and with the newest switch to streaming music, this change has finally come to pass. Passman's comprehensive guide offers timely, authoritative information from how to select and hire a winning team of advisors and structure their commissions and fees; navigate the ins and outs of record deals, songwriting, publishing, and copyrights; maximize concert, touring, and merchandising deals; and how the game is played in a streaming world. "If you want to be in music, you have to read this book," says Adam Levine, lead singer and guitarist of Maroon 5. With its proven track record, this updated edition of All You Need to Know About the Music Business is more essential than ever for musicians, songwriters, lawyers, agents, promoters, publishers, executives, and managers--anyone trying to navigate the rapid transformation of the industry.
Call Number: Walker Management Library, Stacks ML3790 .P35 2019 .P35 2019ISBN: 9781501122187Publication Date: 2019-10-29
Music Law for the General Practitioner by
Music law involves several key substantive areas of law copyrights, trademarks, and identity rights, to name a few. While traditional entities such as songwriters and record companies have always existed, technological advances in digital distribution have brought important new players into the mix. Concerns about the usage rights of digital music have emerged as well as agreements arising from the use of music in advertising and branding. Inexpensive duplication technology, the portability and ubiquity of mobile music devices, and the ease of transmitting digital files have also become areas of concern. Music Law for the General Practitioner provides lawyers with comprehensive information on the business and legal topics that are likely to be encountered when representing a musical talent, producer, or consumer. Topics include: - Music publishing - Financing of bands - Record companies and producers - Agents - Taxes - Musicians estate
Call Number: Upper Level KF4291 .L43 2013ISBN: 9781627221535Publication Date: 2014-08-07
Music Law in the Digital Age by
(Berklee Press). With the free-form exchange of music files and musical ideas online, understanding copyright laws has become essential to career success in the new music marketplace. This cutting-edge, plain-language guide shows you how copyright law drives the contemporary music industry. By looking at the law and its recent history, you will understand the new issues introduced by the digital age, as well as continuing issues of traditional copyright law. Whether you are an artist, lawyer, entertainment Web site administrator, record label executive, student, or other participant in the music industry, this book will help you understand how copyright law affects you, helping you use the law to your benefit. * How do you get fair compensation for your work and avoid making costly mistakes? * Can you control who is selling your music on their website? * Is it legal to create mash-ups? * What qualifies as fair use? * How do you clear another artist's samples to use in your own recordings? * What is the Creative Commons/Copyleft movement? * How do you clear music for use in an online music service or store? * Who decides who gets paid how much and by whom? You will learn the answers to these questions as well as: * The basics of copyright law, looking at the Copyright Act while explaining it in plain language * How revenue streams for music are generated under copyright law * The reasoning behind high-profile court decisions related to copyright violations *What licenses are needed for the legal online delivery of music * The intricacies of using music on sites like YouTube, Pandora, and Spotify * Deficiencies in current copyright law and new business model ideas
Call Number: Upper Level KF3035 .B37 2017ISBN: 9780876391730Publication Date: 2017-05-01
Music Law by
How to make your band a huge business success Whether you're recording an album, budgeting a tour, or insuring your vintage guitar, you need solid information to make the right legal and business choices. Music Law is the all-in-one guide you need. Written by musician and lawyer Rich Stim, it explains everything you need to: write a partnership agreement buy, insure, and maintain equipment use samples and do covers register your band's name sell and license your music get royalties for streaming and downloads deal with taxes and deductions find the right manager and write a fair contract get gigs and get paid protect your copyright legally deal with legal issues in the recording studio, and understand record contracts. This is quite simply the best business and legal guide for bands ever written. Completely updated to provide the latest in the law and current business practices, it covers music licensing and trends affecting the digital-music scene.
Call Number: Upper Level KF390.E57 S87 2018ISBN: 9781413325607Publication Date: 2018-09-30
The Truth about the Music Business
This book guides the reader through the variety of stages and steps one takes to make a professional music career into a legal business. It covers important topics that every musician should fully understand before signing a contract, making a recording, or fully pursuing a career. With a straightforward, plain-English approach, this book is written by an attorney who has been on both sides of the desk in the music business. With the advent of modern computer recording technology, more musicians are producing music for sales and seeking careers than ever before. With those careers comes the need for understanding and planning a career that goes past where the next gig is. This useful and easy-to-follow guide helps the reader do just that, therefore providing a path to gain more control over his/her music career.
Call Number: Online AccessISBN: 1592007635Publication Date: 2005-02-18
Further Research Guidance
There are a number of other research guides that may be relevant to music and copyright law research, such as:
- Antitrust Law Research Guide from Georgetown Law LibraryThis treatise finder points researchers to the preeminent treatises and study aids on antitrust and trade law in print and electronic formats.
- Art Law Research Guide from Georgetown Law LibraryThis guide provides an introduction to notable resources for conducting art law research.
- Copyright Law Research Guide from Georgetown Law LibraryThis guide focuses on one area of intellectual property law, copyright law, and identifies print and electronic materials on the American federal copyright law system, focusing on the Copyright Act of 1976.
- Entertainment Law Research Guide from Georgetown Law LibraryThis guide will assist your research on entertainment law including intellectual property, agency, antitrust, contracts, and labor and employment of the film, television, radio, music recording, publishing, theater, and sports industries.
About this Guide
This guide was created to assist Music and Copyright students with researching legal, policy, industry, and other sources of information related to music and copyright. The goal is to provide an overview of the interdisciplinary research resources that are available at Vanderbilt on this subject.
The content of this guide is both narrow and general. It is narrow in that it provides information for a very specific specialty area in intellectual property law. Its coverage is broad as far as primary and secondary sources available to you about copyright law and interdisciplinary resources related to copyright's impact on music. Visit each tab to explore the many research options available to you at Vanderbilt.
This guide was most recently supplemented/updated by Emily Pavuluri. This guide was originally populated by Andrea Alexander, based on a previous seminar LibGuide primarily created and populated by Jason Sowards and supplemented/updated by Carolyn Hamilton and Sarah Dunaway. Please direct any questions about this LibGuide to Emily Pavuluri.
