2.4. Making original recordings This section deals with situations where you need to make recordings yourself, rather than using those which already exist. Initially, you need to identify whether the works you wish to use are protected by copyright. If so, you need to know for how long, and who owns the copyright (see section 2.3 'Summary of the Law' above). Not only does the work (the speech, song...) have copyright, but the person performing the work (the orator, orchestral player...) also has the right to be asked permission to be recorded. You need to get permission (preferably in writing) from the copyright owner, and the performers (who have copyright in the performance), before recording the work. There is no copyright in 'natural sounds' (birdsong, traffic noise...). Once recorded with permission, you have the copyright in that particular recording of the work, just as a record company has the copyright in a specific CD recording. If you intend to make the recording available to the public (if it is to be put onto a website, for example) then this should be clearly indicated when asking for permission to record (see section 2.7 'Applying for Copyright') as the recording will then become available to a number of users; the copyright owner needs to be aware of this. If you intend to digitally archive or store the work in a database, you must also have the permission of the performers and copyright owners by law, and if you have put organisation and creative effort into the database collection, then that is protected too. (See the UK Data Protection Act 1988 - http://www.hmso.gov.uk/acts/acts1998/19980029.htm, and the UK Database Act - http://www.hmso.gov.uk/si/si1997/1973032.htm). You should ask permission for this at the same time as requesting permission to record and obtaining copyright clearances. 2.5. Using existing recordings This section deals with situations where you are using material from recordings which already exist. In such situations there is also copyright in the recording itself: this is in addition to the performing and authorship copyrights. Therefore you need to identify the copyright holder of the particular recording you are using from the sleeve notes, inlay booklet, or other documentation of the recording, and ask their permission for using that recording. The copyright holder is normally identified by marks such as 'Ó Sony Music Publishing 1990' or by words such as 'all tracks published by EMI Music Publishers'. You should also take a note of the following details for your own reference and in case you do have trouble identifying the author or re-locating the recording: Title of the recording and number of the track
Album or work it is taken from
Composer/Author and Performer
Arranger and Conductor if it is a musical work
Publisher
Date it was published
Serial number of the recording, to aid in identification If the recording comes from the Internet then copyright law protects it equally. There is normally a copyright notice or a contact email address on most websites, and when locating the copyright owner of the source it is normally to that address that you should apply for help in the first instance. It is important, especially with musical works, to identify the owners of all the various rights present in a work. Not only is there copyright existing in the work itself, but also in the specific recording used and the performance itself (i.e. the performers have rights). Furthermore, if you wish to use a printed version of lyrics, for example, then you will also need to obtain permission from the copyright owners of the typographical arrangement (the visual image of the page), and if you wish to synchronise the music with a video clip, then you will need permission to do that. It is necessary to identify and obtain all the rights in a work before using it, especially if you are presenting the work to the public (via a website, for example). Again, if you want to digitally store and archive your audio recordings, then you must ask the permission of the copyright owners at the same time as requesting copyright permissions and clearances. (For more information, look at the UK Data Protection Act 1988 - http://www.hmso.gov.uk/acts/acts1998/19980029.htm, and the UK Database Act - http://www.hmso.gov.uk/si/si1997/1973032.htm).
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