With more music available than ever before and generative AI giving you the ability to write a song with just a text prompt, understanding copyright law has never been more important—or more challenging. Whether you're sharing your music through streaming platforms, social media, download services, or licensing it for video games, TV, or film, these are all vital revenue streams that rely on the core principles of copyright to ensure fair compensation for songwriters and performers. In this class, you'll get a full overview of how creative works are protected by copyright law and what rights you have as a creator.
Copyright Law teaches you the basics of copyright—what it protects and how it works—while giving you the tools to monetize your work and guard it against unauthorized use. You’ll learn by analyzing real-world court cases and exploring how copyright law has been shaped by legislation passed by the United States Congress. Topics include your six exclusive rights as a copyright owner, how to register your work, how long copyright protection lasts, what constitutes infringement, what remedies are available, and how the “fair use” defense works. You’ll also dig into compulsory royalty rates for technologies like interactive streaming, landmark new media cases such as Napster and Grokster, and the international treaties that protect your work overseas.
By the end of the course, you will be able to:
- Read and understand a court case
- Understand the history and applicability of copyright to all creative works, with a specific emphasis on music
- Explain copyright infringement and the penalties and defenses to it
- Write an analysis of a case involving digital media and copyright
- Protect your own works from unauthorized exploitation
Syllabus
Lesson 1: Historical Perspective on Copyright
- History of the Music Industry
- Cylinder to Audiocassettes
- Digitalization of the Record Industry
- Napster and the Emergence of File Sharing
- Legal Downloading and Streaming
- Statute of Anne, Development of Copyright Law
- Current U.S. Law and Six Exclusive Rights
- Amendments
- International
- Courts and Understanding the Law
- Briefing a Case
- Assignment 1: Brief Court Case
Lesson 2: Copyrightable Subject Matter
- Music and Copyright
- Copyright in Musical Composition and in Sound Recording
- Distinguishing Between Musical Composition and Sound Recording
- What Counts as an Infringement?
- Mechanical Licensing
- Who Sets the Compulsory Mechanical Royalty Rates?
- Idea/Expression Dichotomy
- Idea/Expression Dichotomy Examples
- Other Intellectual Property Rights
- Sample Case Law
- What Is Copyrightable?
- Feist Publications, Inc. v. Rural Telephone Service
- Nash v. CBS
- Copyrighting a Groove
- Assignment 2: Mechanical License
Lesson 3: Copyrightable Subject Matter, Derivative Works
- Derivative Works
- L. Batlin & Son v. Snyder
- Horgan v. MacMillan
- Computer Software: Apple Computer v. Franklin Computer
- Lotus v. Borland
- Pictorial, Graphic, and Sculptural Works, Characters: Mannion v. Coors Brewing Company
- Anderson v. Stallone
- Mashups, Sampling
- Bridgeport Music
- Assignment 3: List Licenses for Legal Distribution
Lesson 4: Transfer, Works-for-Hire, Duration of Copyright Protection
- Transfer of Rights
- Works-for-Hire
- Community for Creative Non-Violence v. Reid
- Duration of Copyright Protection, Joint Works
- Copyright in Works after 1978
- Copyright in Works Prior to 1978
- Copyright Terms
- Sound Recordings
- Termination of Transfer
- Assignment 4: Compute Expiration Day for a Song or Book
Lesson 5: Notice and Registration Requirements, Copying, Infringement
- Notice
- Deposit and Registration
- Registration under the MLC
- Copies
- Arnstein v. Porter
- Steinberg v. Columbia Pictures Industries
- ETS v. Katzman
- Led Zeppelin Case
- Warner Chappell Music, Inc. v. Nealy
- First Sale Doctrine
- Assignment 5: Consider Registration for an AI-Generated Work
Lesson 6: Distribution and Public Performance
- Public Performance
- Technology and Public Performance
- ABC v. Aereo, Inc.
- Performing Rights Organizations
- Collecting Internationally
- Writer's and Publisher's Share
- Ocasek v. Hegglund
- Right of Public Display
- Digital Performance Right in Sound Recordings Act/Sound Exchange
- Distribution
- Assignment 6: Brief a Court Case
Lesson 7: Fair Use
- Fair Use in Copyright Law
- Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, Inc.
- Estate of James Oscar Smith v. Cash Money Records, Inc., et al.
- Andy Warhol, Transformation, and Fair Use
- Fair Use with New Technologies
- Sega v. Accolade
- UMG Recordings, Inc. v. MP3.com, Inc.
- Assignment 7: Fair Use
Lesson 8: Fair Use, Enforcement/Remedies
- Time-Shifting: Sony v. Universal City Studios
- Training AI LLMs and Fair Use
- Injunctive Relief and Impounding
- Fox News v. TVEyes
- Civil Remedies and Statutory Damages
- Davis v. The Gap
- Capitol Records, Inc. v. Thomas-Rasset
- Criminal Penalties
- Assignment 8: Brief a Case
Lesson 9: Vicarious Infringement / DMCA
- Vicarious Infringement: A&M v. Napster
- MGM v. Grokster
- Digital Millennium Copyright Act/ DMCA Safe Harbor Provision
- Capitol Records v. Vimeo, Inc.
- The Value Gap / EU Article 17
- Takedown Notices
- Protection Against Circumventions
- Realnetworks, Inc. v. Streambox, Inc.
- BMG Rights Mgmt. (US) LLC v. Cox Communication, Inc.
- Assignment 9: Write a Takedown Notice
Lesson 10: Gaps in Copyright and Royalty Structures
- DMCA-Covered Radio
- Copyright Royalty Board
- Streaming Royalties and Internet Radio
- Current Royalty Rates
- Copyright Law Reform
- Assignment 10: License Agreements
Lesson 11: User-Generated Content and Federal Preemption
- User-Generated Content Sites and Their Legality
- Case Study: Who Pays If I Upload to YouTube
- Creative Commons and Other Movements
- Federal Preemption of State Law and Sound Recording Protection
- Toney v. L’Oreal USA, Inc.
- International / Berne Convention
- EU-Specific Law and “Making Available”
- Armstrong v. Virgin Records
- Itar-Tass Russian News Agency v. Russian Kurier, Inc.
- Assignment 11: Final Project Assignment
Lesson 12: Gen AI Considerations and Moral Rights
- Moral Rights
- International Best Practices
- Artificial Intelligence and Music
- Day-to-Day Life of a Copyright/Music Attorney
- Assignment 12: Artificial Intelligence
Requirements
Prerequisites and Course-Specific Requirements
Prerequisite Courses, Knowledge, and/or Skills
Completion of Music Business 101 or equivalent knowledge and/or experience.
Textbook(s)
- Music Law in the Digital Age (4th Edition) by Allen Bargfrede (Berklee Press, 2025)
- Copyright Cases and Materials (10th Edition) by Robert Gorman, Jane Ginsburg, and R. Reese (Foundation Press, 2017)
- Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17) Library of Congress (free PDF download)
Student Deals
After enrolling, be sure to check out our Student Deals page for various offers on software, hardware, and more. Please contact support@online.berklee.edu with any questions.
General Course Requirements
Below are the minimum requirements to access the course environment and participate in Live Classes. Please make sure to also check the Prerequisites and Course-Specific Requirements section above, and ensure your computer meets or exceeds the minimum system requirements for all software needed for your course.
Mac Users
PC Users
All Users
- Latest version of Google Chrome
- Zoom meeting software
- Webcam
- Speakers or headphones
- External or internal microphone
- Broadband Internet connection
Instructors
Author & Instructor
Allen Bargfrede focuses his work on building a better world for creatives. An American lawyer, he leads the music strategy firm Avance Advisors and works actively with a range of music clients, including artists, writers, labels, and publishers. He is also the founder of Creative Wave, a global music think tank, and has co-founded two music technology companies.
Allen’s past experience includes founding Berklee’s Rethink Music initiative in partnership with Harvard Law School and launching the graduate music business program at Berklee’s campus in Valencia, Spain. Earlier in his career, he also owned an artist management firm and record label. Read Less
What's Next?
When taken for credit, Copyright Law can be applied towards the completion of these related programs:
Related Certificate Programs
Related Degree Majors
Related Music Career Role
Employers look for skills learned in this course, when hiring for the following music career role:
Questions?
Contact our Academic Advisors by phone at 1-866-BERKLEE (U.S.), 1-617-747-2146 (INT'L), or by email at advisors@online.berklee.edu.
