Understanding Music Copyright

Copyright is free and automatic. Copyright is there from the moment you write down or record the song you've created. The New Zealand Copyright Act gives music copyright owners a number of exclusive rights. Nobody else can use the work without getting the owner’s permission first, and if necessary, paying a royalty for this use.

A song has two forms of copyright:

1. Underlying musical work or composition i.e. the music and the lyric elements (publishing); and
2. The sound recording of a song or composition (master)

Recorded Music only licences sound recording rights: Recorded Music is not involved in the licensing or collection of royalties for the use of musical works – this is covered by other organisations, including APRA AMCOS NZ

The Sound Recording Copyright

Under New Zealand law, the default position is that the owner of copyright in a sound recording is the person who made the “arrangements necessary for the making of the recording”, usually the person who paid for the studio time and other costs associated with making the recording. This could be a record company or a self-releasing artist.

The default position can be changed by written agreement, for example two artists in a band might agree in writing that they jointly own copyright in the recording even if only one of them paid the studio costs. Recorded Music NZ refers to this copyright owner as the Registered (Recording) Rights Holder or Master Rights Holder.

Which specific sound recording rights does Recorded Music license?

Recorded Music only licenses sound recordings on behalf of its Registered Rights Holders and is not involved in licensing the use of sound recordings in any field other than broadcast, public performance and certain online uses. For example, Recorded Music is not involved in:the licensing of streaming services such as Spotify, YouTube or Apple Music; licensing recordings for synchronisation into TV series or films; or in the physical or digital sale of recordings to consumers. These areas are licensed directly by Rights Holders in some cases with assistance from other parties such as aggregators.

The specific rights licensed to Recorded Music by Registered Rights Holders are described here

The types of licence provided by Recorded Music to music users are set out here

These rights licensed by Recorded Music are part of what are sometimes referred to as Neighbouring Rights

What are “Neighbouring Rights”?

The term ‘neighbouring rights’ is used in some countries to refer to the public performance, broadcast, communication and reproduction rights in sound recordings. Literally, neighbouring rights sit besides, or ‘neighbour’ the composition copyright of a work.

These rights are controlled by the entity that owns copyright in the master recording.

Neighbouring rights are not uniform throughout the world and tend to vary much more widely in scope between different countries than songwriters’ and composers’ rights.

Neighbouring rights in Aotearoa

In New Zealand, “neighbouring rights” royalties are collected by us on behalf of Registered Rights Holders through our licensing in the areas of broadcast, public performance and certain online uses, or by the relevant rights holder directly.

New Zealand law does not give performers (e.g. featured recording artists) a right to remuneration or payment in respect of their performances (unless they are also the owner or exclusive licensee of recordings).

As a result, Recorded Music NZ does not collect neighbouring rights royalties on behalf of, or make payments to, performers on the basis of performers’ rights. Rather, eligible performers are entitled to register for the Aotearoa Registered Artists Scheme under which performers can receive up to 50% of the revenues collected on behalf of Registered Rights Holders. This is a Recorded Music NZ contractual arrangement with Registered Rights Holders that recognises and rewards local content and artists, and not a consequence of the law.

Learn more about Recording Artist’s rights here and for more information about Performers’ rights in NZ click the button below.

International Neighbouring Rights

If a song is publicly used in territories outside of New Zealand – e.g. your song is getting radio airplay in Australia, pumped into fitness classes in the UK, used in a TV programme in the US or performed in a club in Europe – you may be entitled to be paid whether you are a Rights Holder and/or Recording Artist or performer. However neighbouring rights legislation differs in each territory. Currently about 80 countries are paying for neighbouring rights uses and the sector is currently worth approximately US$2.7 billion.

So, if you know your sound recordings are getting played beyond New Zealand, it’s important to review your options to collect potential royalties in other jurisdictions. This might be either through Recorded Music NZ where applicable, a label or a neighbouring rights agent, or by authorising another collecting society to collect from their respective territories on your behalf.