As a musician, your creative work—whether composing, recording, or performing—is protected under EU and UK intellectual property (IP) law. Your music, name, image, and performances are valuable assets that can be monetised in various ways. Many musical projects are collaborative, which adds complexity to questions of ownership and control. This document outlines the key IP rights and legal considerations relevant to musicians in the EU and the UK.
Under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, original music and lyrics are protected as copyright works. This applies to:
By default, the copyright belongs to the creator(s) unless assigned to someone else in writing. In collaborations, each contributor may hold joint authorship unless otherwise agreed.
To protect your rights:
Best practice:
As your public profile grows, so does the commercial value of your identity:
Take control of your image and reputation by:
Musicians have rights in their performances:
Ensure your contracts specify:
Join organisations like PPL to collect performance royalties.
Musicians may encounter:
To protect yourself:
By putting Etched® at the heart of our services, we are able to provide our clients with gold standard intellectual asset management.
Our trade mark and design attorneys are experts in all aspects of trade mark law and practice
Our trade mark and design attorneys are experts in all aspects design law and practice
Our intellectual asset management team uses Etched to proactively secure all the evidence you need on the blockchain
Our intellectual asset management team uses Etched to proactively secure all the evidence you need on the blockchain
