We are the music makers

Topic

Copyright

  • Do you need a music lawyer? When to hire one, what it costs and how to keep the bill small

    Most independent artists do not need a lawyer for every release, but a few moments justify one every time: signing anything with a term of years, assigning copyright, and disputes you might take to court. This guide covers those triggers, the main ways lawyers charge, the rules that limit how they can charge in the US and India, and how to prepare so you pay for judgement rather than reading time. Laws and rules checked on 25 Oct 2026.

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  • Royalty-free vs copyright-free vs public domain: what each label actually lets you do

    Three labels get used as if they meant the same thing. They do not. "Royalty-free" describes how you pay for a licence, "copyright-free" is usually a marketing phrase, and "public domain" is a legal status. Here is how to tell them apart and a five-step check before you put someone else's music in your video, game or release. Laws and official pages checked on 25 Oct 2026.

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  • Registering a sound recording in India: what the Copyright Office asks for your master

    A recorded song is its own copyright in India, separate from the composition and the lyrics, and its author is the producer. This guide covers what the Copyright Office expects when you register a master: one application per track, Rs 2,000 per recording, consent from everyone who played or sang on it, and a 60-year term. Sources read on 24 Oct 2026.

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  • What the EU AI Act means for musicians: labels, training summaries, opt-outs and dates

    The EU AI Act does three things a musician should know about: it makes general-purpose AI providers keep a copyright policy and publish a summary of their training content, it requires deepfake audio to be disclosed and AI output to carry machine-readable marks, and it points rightsholders to the EU text-and-data-mining opt-out. This guide sets out what each rule says, when it applies, and what it does not do, from the regulation text and European Commission pages read on 24 Oct 2026.

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  • IPRS and PPL India explained: who collects for your song, who collects for your recording, and what changed in 2025

    India splits music licensing between the song and the recording. IPRS speaks for composers, lyricists and publishers; PPL India licenses sound recordings assigned to it by labels. A 2025 Delhi High Court ruling questioned how PPL may license without being a registered copyright society. This guide explains the two sides and what an independent artist should do, using the Copyright Act text and court records read on 25 Oct 2026.

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