The musical work is the composition. The author is the first owner.
The sound recording is the master. The maker is the first owner.
The maker is whoever undertook the arrangements for the first fixation, including the contracts and the money.
No assignment of copyright is valid unless in writing signed by the owner.
Quick Answer
Who owns a song and who owns the recording of it?
They are two separate copyrights under the Copyright Act and this is the foundation of everything in music. The musical work is the composition, defined in section 2 as any work of music or musical composition, with or without words. Under section 13(1) the author is the first owner, so the songwriter owns the song. The sound recording is a different work, and under section 24(b) the first owner is the maker. Section 2 defines the maker as the person by whom the arrangements necessary for the first fixation of the sounds are undertaken, and section 2.11 states that those arrangements include entering into contracts with performers, financial arrangements and technical arrangements. So under a conventional recording agreement, where the label funds and organises the session, the label is the maker and owns the master. Where the artist self finances, the artist or their company is the maker. A publishing agreement deals with the composition; a recording agreement deals with the master. They are negotiated separately and frequently with different counterparties.
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THE MASTER
Who Is the Maker?
Ownership of a master does not depend on who performed or who wrote it. It depends on who undertook the arrangements necessary for the first fixation, which section 2.11 spells out as the contracts with performers, the financial arrangements and the technical arrangements.
That is why funding matters so much. An artist who paid for the studio, engaged the musicians and organised the session is the maker and owns the master. An artist who signed to a label that did all of those things is not, and no amount of creative contribution changes it.
The practical consequence is that self funded artists often own masters they assume they gave away, and artists on informal arrangements with a producer who paid for everything often do not own masters they assume they hold. Both situations are resolved by looking at who actually made the arrangements, and both are better fixed by a written agreement at the outset.
THE RECORDING AGREEMENT
What It Takes, and for How Long
A recording agreement assigns or licenses the master. The commercial questions are the term, usually expressed as an initial album or delivery commitment with options, the territory, the royalty rate and the basis on which it is calculated, and the recoupment of advances and recording costs.
Recoupment is where the money actually sits. Advances are ordinarily recoupable from royalties, as are recording costs and often a share of video and marketing spend, and until they are recouped the artist receives nothing beyond the advance already paid. An artist can be commercially successful and unrecouped for years without any error having occurred.
Reversion is worth negotiating and is more available than it used to be. A term that returns the masters to the artist after a defined period, or on recoupment, or on the label ceasing to exploit them, changes the long term position substantially. Section 13(4) requires any assignment to be in writing signed by the owner, so the reversion mechanics need to be drafted with the same care as the grant.
PUBLISHING
A Deal About the Composition
A publishing agreement concerns the musical work. The publisher administers and exploits the composition, collects income, pursues synchronisation opportunities and registers the work with the relevant collectives, in exchange for a share.
The structures vary considerably. A full publishing deal assigns the copyright in the composition; a co-publishing deal splits it; an administration deal transfers no ownership at all and simply appoints the publisher to administer for a fee. The difference in what the writer retains is large, and the terminology is used loosely in conversation.
The rights that generate income are set out in section 3(1): reproduction including the mechanical right, the right to reproduce or adapt the work as part of a cinematographic work which is the basis of synchronisation, and communication to the public by telecommunication, which section 2.4(1.1) confirms includes making the work available on demand. A deal should be read against that list, so it is clear which income streams the publisher takes a share of.
MORAL RIGHTS
What an Assignment Does Not Transfer
Under section 14.1(1) the author of a work has the right to the integrity of the work and, where reasonable in the circumstances, the right to be associated with it by name or pseudonym or to remain anonymous.
Section 14.1(2) provides that these may not be assigned but may be waived in whole or in part, and section 14.1(3) that an assignment of copyright does not by that act alone constitute a waiver. So a contract that transfers copyright and is silent on moral rights leaves them intact.
Whether an artist should waive is a real question rather than a formality. Section 28.2 requires prejudice to honour or reputation for an integrity claim, so the right is not a general veto over changes. But it does mean an artist who has not waived retains a say in distortions and in uses that would prejudice their reputation, and licensees further down the chain will usually ask for a waiver expressed so they can rely on it.
Common Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
If I paid for the studio, do I own the master?
Probably. The first owner is the maker, defined as the person who undertook the arrangements necessary for the first fixation, which section 2.11 states includes the contracts with performers and the financial and technical arrangements. If you funded and organised the session, you are likely the maker. Put it in writing anyway, particularly where a producer contributed.
What is the difference between a publishing deal and a record deal?
A publishing deal concerns the composition, the musical work. A record deal concerns the master, the sound recording. They are separate copyrights, frequently with different counterparties, and a deal on one says nothing about the other.
Does signing away copyright mean giving up moral rights?
No. Under section 14.1(2) moral rights cannot be assigned, only waived, and section 14.1(3) provides that assigning copyright does not by itself waive them. If a waiver is intended it has to be express, and it should be drafted so it can be invoked by the owner’s licensees.
What is recoupment and why am I not being paid?
Advances and recording costs, and often a share of video and marketing spend, are ordinarily recoupable from your royalties. Until they are recouped, royalty income is applied against the balance rather than paid to you. Being unrecouped is a normal contractual state, not necessarily an error, though the statements are worth checking.
Can I get my masters back?
Only if the agreement provides for it, or you negotiate it. Reversion after a defined period, on recoupment, or on the label ceasing to exploit, is negotiable and increasingly asked for. Any transfer back has to be in writing signed by the owner to be effective.
Start My Enquiry
Have a Music Agreement Reviewed
Send the draft before you sign it. Term, territory, recoupment and reversion are the four that determine what the deal is worth, and all four are easier to change beforehand.
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Entertainment, music and creators
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Who owns the work, who gets paid for it, and what the agreement in front of you actually signs away.
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Not Legal Advice
Information on this website is provided for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Do not act on any information here without first consulting a qualified lawyer licensed in your jurisdiction. Lexaltico LLP disclaims all liability for actions taken or not taken based on this website's contents.
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Do not submit confidential information through this website or by email until a solicitor-client relationship has been confirmed in writing. Information submitted before that point will not be treated as confidential.
Law Society of Ontario Regulation
Lexaltico LLP is regulated by the Law Society of Ontario (LSO) under the Law Society Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. L.8. All lawyers are members in good standing. Alberta matters are handled by lawyers licensed with the Law Society of Alberta (LSA).
Law Society of Alberta
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Immigration Regulatory Body: CICC
Immigration consulting services are provided by Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultants (RCICs) in good standing with the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants (CICC) under the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants Act, S.C. 2019, c. 29, s. 292.
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The no-obligation initial assessment is a brief introductory conversation. It does not include a review of your documents and does not constitute legal advice. Lexaltico LLP charges a fee for substantive consultations, including civil litigation, criminal defence and immigration matters; the firm may waive that fee at its discretion. Any fee is disclosed in advance and credited in full toward your account if you retain the firm. Documents are reviewed and advice given only at a paid consultation or once the firm has been retained. No solicitor-client relationship arises, and no duty of confidentiality applies, until confirmed in writing.
Referral Fees: LexKonnect
Where we refer a matter to another firm, including through LexKonnect, we comply with Rule 3.6-6.1 of the Law Society of Ontario’s Rules of Professional Conduct. Any referral fee is set out in the Law Society’s standard referral agreement, signed by you before the referral proceeds, and no fee is payable to us unless and until the receiving firm has been paid for its work. You are never obliged to accept a referral and are free to retain any firm you choose. No referral arrangement affects the independent professional judgment of any lawyer at this firm.
Limitation Periods
Failure to commence proceedings within applicable limitation periods may permanently bar your claim. In Ontario, the general limitation period is two (2) years from discovery under the Limitations Act, 2002, S.O. 2002, c. 24, Sched. B. Seek legal advice promptly.
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Lawyers, Paralegals and Consultants
Not everyone at the firm is a lawyer. Licensed paralegals in Ontario may act only within the scope permitted by the Law Society of Ontario, which does not include most family, estate or criminal matters. Immigration consulting may be provided by Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultants, who are not lawyers. Each page and each biography states which applies. Ask us at the outset who will handle your matter and under which licence.
Languages
We serve clients in a number of languages. Every page of this site is written and published in English. Where a document, a summary or a conversation is provided in another language, the English version governs in the event of any difference. If you need an interpreter, tell us when you book and we will arrange one.
Lexaltico LLP
Legal Notices
How Lexaltico LLP handles personal information, under PIPEDA and Ontario law.
What we collect
What you give us
When you use a form on this site, email us or telephone us, we collect what you choose to send:
your name, email address, telephone number and a description of the situation. Nothing on this
site requires you to give more than that.
What is collected automatically
We collect non identifying technical information when you browse: IP address, browser type, pages
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used to identify you.
What we do not collect here
We do not collect sensitive personal information through this website. Detailed personal and legal
information is collected only after a solicitor client relationship exists, through the channels
set up for that purpose.
How we use it
Purpose
What you send is used to reply to you, to run a conflict check, to assess whether the firm can
assist, and, if a retainer follows, to carry out the work.
Marketing
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Sharing and disclosure
Privilege
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a court order requires it.
Service providers
Non privileged contact information may be shared with the providers who help us run the firm and
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reporters. All of them are under confidentiality obligations.
Processing outside Canada
Information submitted through a form travels through third party services in order to reach us by
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the laws of that place. Submitting a form is your consent to that transfer. If you would rather
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Your rights, and how long we keep things
Your rights under PIPEDA
Under the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act,
S.C. 2000, c. 5 you may ask what personal information we hold about you, ask us to correct
anything inaccurate, and withdraw consent to our use of it, subject to legal and contractual
limits. We reply within thirty days or explain why we need longer.
Retention
Client files are kept for the period the law and the Law Society require, ordinarily
seven years after a matter closes, which reflects limitation periods and the
possibility of later proceedings. After that they are securely destroyed or anonymised. You may
ask for earlier deletion, subject to those obligations.
Enquiries that do not become files
If you contact us and no retainer follows, what you sent is retained only as long as our conflict
records require, then destroyed.
If you are not satisfied with our answer you may complain to the Office of the Privacy
Commissioner of Canada.
Short, and written to be read rather than scrolled past.
The four things that matter most
Nothing on this site is legal advice, however specific it looks.
Using the site or sending a form does not make us your lawyers.
Do not send confidential information before a retainer is signed.
Past results depend on their own facts and do not predict yours.
What this site is
Information, not advice
This site publishes several hundred pages about Ontario law. They are written carefully, they cite
statutes and cases by name, and they are reviewed. None of that makes them advice about your
matter. Law is applied to facts, and we do not know yours.
The difference is practical rather than technical. A page explaining that spousal support is
usually indefinite after a twenty year marriage is accurate as a general statement and may be
wrong about you, because of a domestic contract you signed, a period of separation you have
forgotten, or an income that is not what a tax return says it is.
Law also changes. Pages carry a review date where one is relevant. A page reviewed last year may
not reflect an amendment made since, and a page about a subject currently before an appellate
court may be overtaken between your reading it and your acting on it.
When we become your lawyers
Three things must happen first
A conflict check must be completed. We act for a great many people and
businesses, and we cannot act against a current client or use what we learned from a former one.
That check happens before anything else and occasionally means we have to decline.
We must confirm in writing that we are prepared to act. Not every matter is one we
can take, and saying so early is better than taking a file we cannot properly serve.
A retainer agreement must be signed. It sets out what we are doing, what we are
not doing, who is responsible for what, and how fees work. Until it is signed no relationship
exists, whatever has been discussed.
Confidentiality before a retainer
Why you should not send us documents yet
Information sent through a form, or by email, before a retainer is signed is not covered by
solicitor client privilege. That is not a policy we chose. It follows from there being no
solicitor client relationship for the privilege to attach to.
It can also create a problem for you. If you send us detailed information about a dispute and we
are later approached by the other side, what you sent may affect whether we can act for either of
you.
So tell us the shape of the problem and leave out the detail: the area of law, roughly when it
arose, and whether anything is urgent. That is enough for us to say whether we can help. The
documents come after the retainer.
Results, testimonials and reviews
What they do and do not tell you
Case results described anywhere on this site are real and are described accurately, and they are
specific to their own facts. A settlement at three times the original offer happened because of
that employer, that contract and that person’s history. It says nothing about what your
matter is worth.
Client reviews are the views of the people who wrote them. We do not offer anything in return for
a review, we do not write them, and we do not ask only the clients we expect to be positive.
Calculators on this site produce estimates from the figures you enter. They apply published
formulas and they cannot know about the facts that most often change the answer.
Copyright, links and governing law
Copyright
The content of this site belongs to Lexaltico LLP or its licensors. You are welcome to read it,
print it and quote it with attribution. You may not republish it as your own.
Links
We link to statutes, regulations, court decisions and government pages because a reader should be
able to check us. We do not control those sites and are not responsible for them, and a link is
not an endorsement.
Limitation of liability
To the fullest extent the law permits, Lexaltico LLP is not liable for any loss arising from your
use of, or reliance on, anything published on this website.
Governing law
These terms are governed by the law of Ontario and the federal law of Canada that applies in
Ontario. Lawyers and licensed professionals at the firm are regulated by the Law Society of
Ontario, and marketing on this site is intended to comply with the
Rules of Professional Conduct.
Every limit on what this website tells you, and every thing it does not do, in one
place rather than in small print at the bottom of each page.
Before you rely on anything here
Four limits, and they matter in this order.
Not legal advice
Everything published on this website is general information. It is not legal
advice, it does not take account of the facts of any particular situation, and reading it does not
create a solicitor client relationship. Do not act, or decide not to act, on anything here without
speaking to a lawyer licensed in your jurisdiction about your own circumstances.
Jurisdiction
These pages describe the law of Ontario, and of Alberta only
where a page says so expressly. They do not describe the law of any other province, territory or
country. Law that looks similar across jurisdictions frequently is not.
Currency of the law
Each page states the law as at the review date shown on it. Legislation is amended and case law
develops. A page accurate when written may no longer be.
Generality
These pages describe how a rule usually works. That is not the same as how it applies to your
facts. The exceptions are where most real matters live, and a page written for a general reader
cannot tell you whether you are inside a rule or inside its exception.
If you contact us
If you are in danger
If you or a child are in immediate danger, call 911.
This website is not an emergency service. Enquiries sent through a form here are read during
business hours and a reply may take up to 2 business days.
Using this website, submitting a form, sending an email or speaking to us on the telephone does
not make us your lawyers. That relationship arises only when the firm has
confirmed in writing that it has agreed to act, a conflict search has been completed, and a
retainer has been signed.
Confidentiality of enquiries
Do not send confidential or sensitive information through this website or by email until we have
confirmed in writing that we can act for you. Information sent before that point is
not treated as confidential and may prevent us from acting for you, or for
someone else, in a connected matter.
Response times
We aim to reply within 2 business days. Contacting us does not guarantee a reply within any
particular period, does not oblige the firm to act, and does not stop, extend or satisfy
any limitation period, filing date or court deadline.
Our telephone line
Our line is answered 24 hours a day, every day of the year. Outside office hours calls are taken
by our intake service, who record your details and pass them to the firm. A lawyer responds during
the next business day, or sooner if the matter is urgent. Answering the telephone is not the same
as giving legal advice, and no relationship arises from that call.
Who we are and how we are regulated
Law Society of Ontario
Lexaltico LLP is regulated by the Law Society of Ontario under the
Law Society Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. L.8. All lawyers practising in
Ontario through the firm are members in good standing.
Law Society of Alberta
Alberta matters are handled by lawyers licensed with, and in good standing with, the
Law Society of Alberta. A lawyer licensed in Ontario is not thereby licensed in
Alberta, and the reverse is also true.
Immigration regulation
Immigration consulting is provided by Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultants
in good standing with the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants under the
College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants Act, S.C. 2019, c. 29,
s. 292.
Lawyers, paralegals and consultants
Not everyone at the firm is a lawyer.
Licensed paralegals in Ontario may act only within the scope the Law Society
permits, which does not include most family, estate or criminal matters.
Immigration consultants are regulated by the College, not by a law society,
and are not lawyers.
Law clerks and managers support files but do not give legal advice.
Each page and biography states which applies. Ask at the outset who will handle your matter and
under which licence.
Languages
We serve clients in thirteen languages. Every page of this website is written and published in
English. Where anything is provided in another language, the English
version governs in the event of a difference. If you need an interpreter, tell us when
you book and we will arrange one.
Fees
The initial assessment
The no-obligation initial assessment is a brief introductory
conversation. It does not include a review of your documents and does not constitute
legal advice.
The firm charges a fee for substantive consultations, including in civil litigation,
criminal defence and immigration matters. The firm may waive that fee at its discretion.
Any fee is disclosed in advance and credited in full toward your account if you retain the
firm.
Referral fees
Where we refer a matter to another firm, including through LexKonnect, we comply with Rule 3.6-6.1 of the Law Society of Ontario’s Rules of Professional Conduct. Any referral fee is set out in the Law Society’s standard referral agreement, signed by you before the referral proceeds, and no fee is payable to us unless and until the receiving firm has been paid for its work. You are never obliged to accept a referral and are free to retain any firm you choose. No referral arrangement affects the independent professional judgment of any lawyer at this firm.
What is published on this site
Calculators and estimators
They produce estimates from what you type and cannot know the rest. They do not
account for the terms of your contract, statutory exceptions, or the discretion a court will
apply. Do not make a decision on a number produced by a calculator.
Past results
Any outcome described happened on its own facts, before its own decision maker,
under the law as it stood at the time. Past results do not predict or guarantee the result of any
other case.
Reviews and testimonials
Reviews shown here are written by third parties and published on platforms we do not control. Each
describes one person’s experience of one matter. They are not a promise, a
prediction or a guarantee about any other matter.
Links to other websites
This site links to regulators, courts, government sources, professional associations and social
platforms, all operated by others. We do not control them, we are not responsible for
their content or accuracy, and a link is not an endorsement.
Other notices
Limitation periods
Failure to start a proceeding within the applicable limitation period may permanently bar
your claim. In Ontario the general period is two years from discovery
under the Limitations Act, 2002, S.O. 2002, c. 24, Sched. B.
Shorter periods apply to many claims. Seek advice promptly. Nothing on this website extends a
limitation period.
Accessibility
We aim to meet the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act
and WCAG 2.1 Level AA. If any part of this site prevents you from reaching us, telephone
+1 416 333 6200 or write to
hello@lexaltico.com and we will provide the information
in another format, at no charge.
