If you’re a musician, you’re probably concerned about copyright. (If you’re not concerned, you should be…)

Unfortunately, there are a lot of misconceptions floating around about what copyright is, what things are covered by copyright, how to get a copyright and so forth. Fortunately, the U.S. Copyright Office has an excellent Copyright FAQs section that can answer most of these questions — in plain English, even! (Or plain Spanish, for those who prefer Espanñl.)

Another interesting resource for those interested in learning more about copyright: the UCLA Law Copyright Infringement Project. It offers a look at important music-related copyright cases “from the mid-nineteenth century forward,” plus a handy glossary of terms and a section dealing with new disputes that may or may not have gone to trial yet.

Mom suggests you check both these resources out.

Article copyright © by Diane M. Aull. All Rights Reserved.