Protect Your Music and Album Release with a GRAM Copyright Registration
Through a process known as “group registration,” the Copyright Office allows authors, photographers, and artists to register for copyright groupings of multiple related works, all with a single application filing, and all for a single fee.1 The group registration, however, has never been extended to benefit musicians. As a result, musicians have been required to file separate copyright applications and pay separate fees for each song and each recording they seek to register, even if those songs and recordings were released together on a single album.
To address this issue and ensure that musicians are able to obtain the same benefits of copyright registration as other artists, the Office has created the Group Registration of Works on an Album of Music, or GRAM group registration option.2 Specifically, this type of group registration consists of two separate applications, the Group Registration of Musical Works on an Album,3 and the Group Registration of Sound Recordings on an Album.4
How do GRAM applications benefit musicians?
Traditionally, in order to obtain copyright registrations for their music, musicians were required to submit separate applications for each of their songs and to do so for:
the underlying musical work (music and lyrics)5; and
the sound recording embodying that work.6
Although this traditional route is still a viable option for songs published separately (such as in connection with a “single” written and recorded by the same musician), the Group Registration of Musical Works on an Album allows for between two (2) and twenty (20) published musical works to be registered as part of one application, and the Group Registration of Sound Recordings on an Album allows for between two (2) and twenty (20) published sound recordings and “any associated literary, pictorial, or graphic works included with the same album” (i.e., album artwork) to be registered with one application.7
This is a substantial change in the registration options available to musicians, because the ability to apply for registration of multiple works and/or copyrightable materials within the same application will save musicians significant time and money. Although musicians must be cognizant of the requirements of a GRAM application to ensure their musical work and sound recording submissions are eligible, if they qualify, the process for obtaining a copyright registration for those works will be much more streamlined and cost effective.
What are the requirements for GRAM applications?
The GRAM applications allow for the registration of multiple songs published on the same album.
“An album is a single physical or electronic unit of distribution containing at least two musical works and/or sound recordings embodied in a phonorecord,8 including any associated literary, pictorial, or graphic works distributed with the unit.”9
In other words, an album includes physical copies, like LPs, EPs, or mixtapes; digital albums for download; and a group of tracks released to the public through streaming.10
In keeping with the traditional distinction between musical works and sound recordings described above (also known as the two “sides” of a music copyright), a musician wishing to register a group of musical works and the sound recordings of those musical works will need to submit both a Group Registration of Musical Works on an Album and a Group Registration of Sound Recordings on an Album for the works.
The requirements for the applications are basically the same:
there must be a title for the album and for each musical work or sound recording on that album;
the track number assigned to the musical works or sound recordings on the published album must match that provided in the registration application;
all of the works within the album must share at least one common “author”;
the copyright claimant must be the same person or organization, whether a musician, publisher, label, producer, or other owner of the all the exclusive rights to the works on the album; and
all of the songs must have been published on the same date and within the same country, with some exceptions.11
How do I find out if a GRAM application is right for my music?
Do you or your band have an album that you want to protect with a copyright registration? Let us know. At Solotoff Law we help songwriters, composers, and recording artists with a variety of legal needs, including copyright registration. Contact us to learn more about our copyright services.
[1] See Group Registration of Works on an Album of Music, 86 Fed. Reg. 10,820 (Feb. 23, 2021) (to be codified at 37 C.F.R. pts. 201 and 202), https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/02/23/2021-03533/group-registration-of-works-on-an-album-of-music.
[2] U.S. Copyright Office, Group Registration for Works on an Album of Music (GRAM), https://www.copyright.gov/gram/.
[3] U.S. Copyright Office, Group Registration of Musical Works on an Album (GRAM), https://www.copyright.gov/eco/gram-pa/help-gram-pa.html (hereinafter Musical Works GRAM).
[4] U.S. Copyright Office, Group Registration of Sound Recordings on an Album (GRAM), https://www.copyright.gov/eco/gram-sr/help-gram-sr.html (hereinafter Sound Recordings GRAM).
[5] “A ‘musical work’ consists of the musical composition (melody, rhythm, and/or harmony) and any accompanying words (lyrics).” U.S. Copyright Office, Frequently Asked Questions: Group Registration of Works on an Album of Music (GRAM), https://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-gram.html.
[6] U.S. Copyright Office, Circular 58 Group Registration of Works on an Album 1 (2021), https://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ58.pdf (hereinafter Circ. 58).
[7] 37 C.F.R. § 202.4(k)(1).
[8] “[M]aterial objects in which sounds, other than those accompanying a motion picture or other audiovisual work, are fixed by any method now known or later developed, and from which the sounds can be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated, either directly or with the aid of a machine or device. The term “phonorecords” includes the material object in which the sounds are first fixed.” 17 U.S.C. § 101.
[9] Group Registration of Works on an Album of Music, 86 Fed. Reg. at 10,821.
[10] Id.; Circ. 58, supra note 6, at 1.
[11] Circ. 58, supra note 6, at 2-5; see also Musical Works GRAM, supra note 3 (describing the application in detail and providing illustrative examples); Sound Recordings GRAM, supra note 4 (same).
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