Cover Songs: What Is Legal, What Is Copyrighted, and Licensing

Millions of people are posting, creating, or using music in one way or another every day!  Not only do I have my favorite songs, I love all the variations, covers, and take-offs that are made by those songs.  It makes me want to create my own, too!  But how do I know if I am infringing on any copyright if I wanted to create my own cover?  Is there anything bad with recording my own version of some of my favorite songs and sharing it online?  Once I create a cover, is it copyrighted?  This article is my effort to compile all the info I could find on this topic.

So, are cover songs copyrighted?   Songs are created and obtain a copyright as soon as it is recorded in some way — either written, filmed even on your phone, or documented somehow.  When a version or derivative of the copyrighted song is created, it is referred to as a cover.  A cover song needs to get permission, or a license, from the copyright holders in order to record it or use it in any way.  Once you create a licensed cover and record it, it is now copyrighted and you can register your copyright.

Even if you are giving away your cover song for free or even if it’s for a non-profit organization, permission is needed before you use any version of a copyrighted song.   Sometimes, the permission is already granted.  At other times, you need to do what it takes to get permission directly from whoever holds the copyright.  Let’s take a closer look.

 

Are Cover Songs Legal

 

 

A copyrighted song gives the owner permission to reproduce and distribute their compositions.  Whenever you use or record a cover of an existing song, you are using someone else’s copyrighted material.  That being said, cover songs can be perfectly legal, even encouraged (at least in most countries, including the United States) if you go through the proper steps first.

First of all, if the song is in the public domain, they are no longer protected by copyright and you do not need to obtain permission from anyone to publish, perform, or distribute the music.  Any song written before 1923 as well as any song that has voluntarily been placed in the public domain is already in the public domain.  You can check to see if the song you wish to cover is in the public domain on pdinfo.com.

Check out YouTube’s Music Policies where some songs are listed that already state the copyright policy.  Take note that this resource is meant particularly for YouTube.  YouTube has already made some agreements with many music publishers and thus you can find out if there is already an agreement in place.  The copyright holders still have the right to change their policy for your particular cover on YouTube if they wanted to regardless of what is written on YouTube’s Music Policies.  When you place a cover song on YouTube, YouTube can match the song using their Content ID system and notify copyright holders of your use of their song.  Copyright holders can then decide to block your video, monetize it (and possibly share the revenue with you), and/or track your views.  And it can change depending on the country.  Check out YouTube’s Content ID System for more info.

You will definitely want to license your cover song if you are releasing it on a physical format or a digital download.  If you are releasing only to major interactive streaming platforms, you may not have to have a license.  Most of these companies already pay royalties and take care of copyright anyhow.  Check out the platform your are looking to stream on to find more specifics.

 

Some Song Copyright Law Basics

 

You can copyright your music and/or your lyrics to your song even if its a cover song.  The song must be your original work and it can be a new song or a new version or arrangement of an existing song.  You can copyright an audio recording as well as the song itself.  What you can’t do is copyright a song title or a chord progression.

Legalzoom.com also says this about copyright rights:

A music copyright is actually a bundle of separate exclusive rights. When you copyright songs, you have the right to:

• Make and distribute copies of the song on sheet music, records, tapes, CDs and certain digital media. You also have the exclusive right to make and distribute the first sound recording of the song. Once the first recording has been distributed, other people can make and distribute additional recordings, but they must obtain a mechanical license for the song and pay you a royalty fee. If someone wants to record the song onto a video or motion picture, they must obtain a synchronization license.
• Prepare derivative works, including new arrangements.
• Perform the song and authorize others to perform it. If someone else wants to play your song for an audience, they must obtain a public performance license and pay you royalties. This applies whether the song is performed live or played on radio, television, over the internet or on a music streaming service.
• Display the song.

Check out the rest of their article on How to Copyright a Song.

 

Recording and Selling Your Cover Song

 

Seek Permission.

You will need to notify the copyright owner of your intent to use their song.  If you are making a cover of their song, then you need permission.  If you are recording their song, or any version of their song then you need permission.  If you are going to share their song, or any version of their song (including a cover) via internet, print, or any other way, then you need permission.  They own the copyright to their song and the rights to it.  If you are creating a cover of it, then you need to make sure you are doing what you need to to not infringe on their copyright.

If you want to just pay a company and skip all the hassle, skip down to the “Cover Song Licensing” section of this article to help you make this part nice and easy.  It really is not a big deal and you can get it all done for you for a reasonable price.

Pay royalties.  

You will likely be required to pay mechanical royalty fees.  The statutory mechanical royalty fees are set by the Copyright Royalty Board.  They are not negotiated with the copyright holder.  It is statutory, or fixed.  Occasionally, they can be adjusted from time to time. Currently, the rate is 9.1 cents per song that is 5 minutes or less.  It is 1.75 cents per minute for songs over 5 minutes.

Get a unique code for your song.

Since there are likely many artists who have created a cover song as well, there can be multiple releases of the same song.  You will want to be able to identify yours.  If you have a live recording and a studio recording of the song, you will want a unique identifier for each of them.  You can purchase a unique code, or an International Standard Recording Code (ISRC for short), from official ISRC Managers.

 

Getting Paid for Your Cover Song

 

Once you have gone through the legalities, you can finally obtain your royalties for your cover song.  There are several ways to do so:

• Income from sales either in physical format or digital downloads.
• Interactive streaming royalties such as Spotify.  This rate is based on a formula that uses factors such as the total number of streams and how much is it shared.
• Non-interactive streaming royalties include use over the internet (such as Pandora), cable (such as Music Choice), or satellite (such as SiriusXM).   Check out SoundExchange for more info.

 

Cover Song Licensing

 

This can be quite a process to make sure that you are legal and licensed to publish and distribute your cover song. If you don’t want to deal with all the hassle that can go into this, there are a couple companies who you can check out.

Easy Song Licensing is probably one of the better known online companies out there who are doing this currently.  You can hire them for a fee of about $15, and they will get the job done.  That includes getting permission, setting up royalties, and doing the other necessary steps to get your song licensed.  Easy Song Licensing is tailored to those that are planning around 2500 downloads.  Easy Song Licensing can help you with any license you are trying to obtain, whether well known or obscure.

Harry Fox Agency (HFA) is another company who licenses music.  To explore this option, you will need to set up a consultation.  HFA only issues licenses for publishers they represent.  If you are using a small obscure song, this company will probably not be able to help you with the license.

 

What happens if I post a cover song without a music license?

 

If you post a cover song without a music license and the original song is not in the public domain, then you may have consequences depending on the copyright holder.

You may find that some copyright owners are totally okay with your cover song.  The more exposure they get to the music, the more popular their music/band becomes and thus they benefit as well.  YouTube can allow them to get revenue from the ads on your YouTube, so they can monetize as well.

If you go on to YouTube and other media platforms and find many different covers of a popular song, then likely, the copyright holder is okay with you creating a cover without permission.  Just make sure you are aware of the risks associated with publishing music without a license (or without permission from the copyright holder).

Other copyright holders are definitely against any infringement of their copyright.  They can object to your copyright infringement and your video or post may be shut down.  Worst case scenario would that your whole account may be blocked for public viewing and all your subscribers would be lost, but I imagine that would only occur after several copyright infringements and I would guess that you would be made aware of this action and what to do to re-mediate it before it occurs.