Copyright confusion costs artists money. Here's everything you need to know about protecting your music in the UK — no lawyer required (but maybe get one anyway).
TL;DR
In the UK, your music is automatically copyrighted the moment you create it — no registration required. But proving ownership requires evidence. Use timestamped recordings, register with PRS/PPL, and understand the difference between composition and recording rights.
The Good News: Your Music Is Already Copyrighted
Unlike the US, where copyright registration is a formal process through the Library of Congress, the UK operates under automatic copyright. The moment you write a song or record a track, you own the copyright. No forms, no fees, no government office. It exists from the moment of creation.
There are two separate copyrights in every piece of recorded music. The first is the composition copyright — the melody, lyrics, and harmonic structure of the song itself. This belongs to the songwriter(s). The second is the sound recording copyright — the specific recorded version. This belongs to whoever paid for or arranged the recording, which might be the artist, a producer, or a label.
Understanding this distinction is crucial because these rights can be owned by different people and generate different income streams.
How to Prove You Wrote It
Automatic copyright is brilliant in theory but problematic in practice. If someone nicks your melody and you go to court, you need to prove you created it first. Without evidence of creation date, it becomes your word against theirs.
The most reliable method is to keep dated records of your creative process. Bounced demos with timestamps, project files with creation dates, voice memos of ideas, even emails to yourself containing recordings — all of these create a trail of evidence.
Some artists use the 'poor man's copyright' approach: posting a copy to yourself via recorded delivery and keeping it sealed. This has some legal standing but it's not foolproof. A better approach is to use a digital timestamping service or simply ensure your files are backed up to a cloud service that records upload dates with tamper-proof timestamps.
PRS, PPL, and Collection Societies Explained
If your music is being played anywhere — streaming, radio, TV, live venues, shops, restaurants — you should be registered with the UK's collection societies to ensure you get paid.
PRS for Music collects royalties for songwriters and publishers whenever compositions are performed, broadcast, or streamed. If you wrote the song, you need PRS membership. PPL (Phonographic Performance Limited) collects royalties for performers and recording rights holders whenever recordings are played in public or broadcast.
You need both. PRS covers the composition side; PPL covers the recording side. Registration is straightforward for both — apply online, provide details of your works, and they'll collect royalties on your behalf. PRS charges a one-time joining fee of £100; PPL is free to join.
The royalties might seem small initially, but they compound. Every Spotify stream, every radio play, every time your track plays in a coffee shop — it all adds up. And crucially, these societies collect money you'd never know you were owed.
Splits, Collaborations, and Avoiding Disputes
The single biggest source of copyright disputes in music is collaborations where ownership wasn't discussed upfront. A producer adds a beat, a topline writer adds a melody, a vocalist records the performance — who owns what?
The answer should always be decided before the session ends. Write it down. A simple split sheet — 'Artist A owns 50% of composition, Producer B owns 50% of composition, Artist A owns 100% of recording' — signed by both parties, prevents 90% of disputes.
If you're a producer who makes beats for artists, agree whether you're selling the beat outright, licensing it, or co-owning the resulting song. If you're a vocalist recording over someone else's production, clarify your ownership percentage before you step in the booth.
This isn't paranoia — it's professionalism. The music industry is littered with broken friendships and expensive lawsuits that could have been prevented by a two-minute conversation and a piece of paper.