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Copyrights and Public Domain

Copyrighting and Public Domain Music

A song is the combination of melody and words. Each is protected by copyright, the melody as a musical work and the lyrics as a literary work. One or the other could be used separately and still be protected.

Copyright 1
Image by Markus Spiske


Public Domain Music
Public domain essentially covers creative works that are no longer protected by intellectual property laws, compositions and musical recordings in which the claim to intellectual property has either expired, been forfeited, or been waived.

Most people recognize the term public domain in reference to published works, including sheet music or musical recordings, which once were protected by copyright, but the copyright expired several decades after the artist’s death or a considerable length of time after the work’s creation. Once copyright expires on a work like a recorded song, you can use it for any purpose without paying the publisher, the artist, or another institution.

The Two Types of Copyright Protected Works
When you record a song, you may be creating two works that are protected by copyright, a musical work and a sound recording. These works are subject to different rules and are commonly owned and licensed separately.

A musical work is a song’s underlying composition along with any accompanying lyrics. Musical works are usually created by a songwriter or composer. And a sound recording is a series of musical, spoken, or other sounds fixed in a recording medium, such as a CD or digital file, called a phonorecord. Sound recordings can be created by the recording’s performer, the producer, etc. Note that there is no public display right for sound recordings and the public performance right is limited to digital audio transmissions, for example, digital streaming.

Copyright
Image by Dee

Involved Rights
The length of copyright protection varies from country to country, but music, along with most other creative works, generally enters the public domain 50 to 75 years after the death of the creator. A recording in 2023 could be protected by copyright even though the underlying composition lies in the public domain. Copyrights for music cover the authors, composers, and lyricists. The performer and live performances, publishers, record companies and other users of recorded music, and downloading music.


Year Copyrightings
Issused		 Musical
Compositions		 Sound
Recordings 		 Albums
Released		 Notes
2022 484589 70129 1567
2021 403593 69539 1804
2020 367307 183060 2107 sound recording total includes all performing arts
2019 547837 83658 2284
2018 560013 77216 2583
2017 452122 59247 2831
2016 414296 42444 3011
2015 443823 42977 3448
2014 476298 65463 3795
2013 496599 72377 4007
2012 509122 74348 3949
2011 670044 107680 4528
2010 636400 78000 4756
2009 381300 42000 5364
2008 232100 24200 5550
2007 524700 53700 5850
2006 515200 50800 6061
2005 515200 49900 5584
2004 642000 68000 5258
2003 514100 47000 4952
2002 501000 37100 4456
2001 580800 50300 4286
2000 497600 34200 3405
1999 569900 38000 3816
1998 531900 31600 3641
1997 539400 35700 3447
1996 525800 29900 3311
1995 577800 34000 3132
1994 496100 35900 2966
1993 525600 32400 2703
1992 556300 33100 2447
1991 663700 36800 2347
1990 643500 37500 2150
1989 618300 28300 2056
1988 585300 28600 1820
1987 582200 31900 1798
1986 561000 29000 1636
1985 539800 22700 1624
1984 502700 21600 1510
1983 488200 128,000 21700 1460
1982 468100 125,400 13900 1553
1981 471100 125,000 13500 1522
1980 464700 120,200 12800 1476
1979 429000 108,300 10700 1448
1978 415700 114,800 9100 1409
1977 452700 131,200 10600 1337
1976 411000 118,500 9,000 1291
1975 401300 114,800 8,900 1235
1974 372800 104,500 9,400 1120
1973 353600 95,300 6,700 1154
1972 344600 97,500 1,100 1126
1971 329700 95,200 1040
1970 316466 88,949 1086
1969 301258 83,608 1037
1968 303451 80,479 906
1967 294406 79,291 813
1966 289866 76,805 763
1965 293697 80,881 704
1964 278987 75,256 681
1963 264845 72,583 621
1962 245776 67,612 653
1961 247014 65,500 573
1960 243926 65,558 555
1959 241735 70,707 549
1958 238935 66,515 435
1957 225807 59,614 474
1956 224908 58,330 375
1955 224732 57,527 228
1954 222665 58,213 114
1953 219506 59,302 61
1952 203705 51,538 41
1951 200354 48,319 21
1950 210564 52,309 33
1949 201190 48,210 20
1948 238121 72,339 15
1947 230215 68,709 16
1946 202144 63,367 20
1945 178848 57,835 6
1944 169269 52,087 8
1943 160795 48,348 4
1942 182232 50,023 14
1941 180647 49,135 14
1940 176997 37,975 13
1939 173135 40,961 7
1938 166248 35,334 4
1937 154424 31,821
1936 156962 33,250
1935 142031 27,459 1
1934 139047 27,001 1

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Location: United States

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