Common-Law Copyright

Sound recordings made before 1972 are governed by a confusing array of state-law protections, the most notable of these being common law copyright. Although frequently treated as a pre-publication version of statutory copyright, common law copyright has less in common with statutory copyright than is generally assumed, and these differences have real effects on copyright holders and broadcasters. This piece aims to take the measure of common-law copyright and demonstrate that it is a substantially broader doctrine than statutory copyright in terms of what rights it grants to creators. Particular attention is paid to the right of public performance at common-law, which does not obey statutory limitations but instead offers blanket protection to rights holders