Copyright is not something you apply for. In the UK, copyright protection arises automatically the moment you create an original song or composition in a fixed form – written on paper, recorded as a demo, or saved as a digital file. There is no registration process, no government office to contact, and no fee. If you have created an original musical work or lyrics, you own the copyright in them.
That principle – automatic protection on creation – is established by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (CDPA), which is the primary legislation governing copyright in the UK. It differs from the US, where a formal registration system exists through the US Copyright Office. US registration is not required for copyright to exist, but it does provide additional legal advantages in infringement disputes, including the ability to claim statutory damages. For UK-based writers, no equivalent step is needed.
Two copyrights in every recording
One of the most common sources of confusion in the music industry is the relationship between song copyright and recording copyright. When a song is recorded, two separate copyrights exist:
- The song copyright (also called publishing rights or composition rights) covers the musical composition itself – the melody, harmony, structure and lyrics. This belongs to the songwriter or composer, unless they have assigned it to a publisher.
- The recording copyright (also called master rights) covers that specific recorded performance of the song. This typically belongs to the artist, the record label, or whoever funded and arranged the recording.
These two copyrights are entirely independent. Different people usually own them, different organisations administer them, and they generate different income streams through different licensing routes. A cover version of your song creates a new recording copyright (owned by whoever made that recording), but your underlying song copyright remains yours. As a songwriter or composer, the song copyright is your primary asset – and the focus here is on how it works, what it gives you, and how to protect it. Recording rights come up only where needed to explain how the two interact.
Mechanical rights and performing rights
The music industry divides the uses of a song into two broad categories, each with its own licensing and collection infrastructure:
Performing rights cover public performance and communication to the public. That includes live performance, radio and TV broadcast, streaming, and any other situation where your music is heard publicly. In the UK, PRS for Music (PRS) licenses and collects performing rights royalties on behalf of songwriters and publishers.
Mechanical rights cover the reproduction of your song – making copies of it. Historically, that meant pressing vinyl or CDs. Today, it also covers digital downloads and streaming. In the UK, the Mechanical-Copyright Protection Society (MCPS), which operates as part of the PRS group, handles mechanical licensing and collection.
When your song is streamed on Spotify or Apple Music, both a performing right and a mechanical right are engaged. The platform needs a licence for each, and you earn royalties from both – though they are calculated, collected and paid separately. That distinction determines who collects what on your behalf, what you see on your royalty statements, and where gaps in your income might be coming from.
What copyright does not protect
Copyright protects the expression of a musical idea, not the idea itself. A chord progression, a generic rhythmic pattern, or a common melodic phrase is not protectable on its own – what is protected is the specific way you have combined and expressed those elements in your song. Similarly, a song title cannot be copyrighted, though it may in some cases be protected as a trade mark.
There is no minimum length or quality threshold for copyright protection. A four-bar melody can be protected if it is original. The test under UK law is that the work must be your own intellectual creation – it must originate from you and involve some degree of skill, labour or creative choice.
