A Possible Solution for Music Artists to Better Leverage Their Bargaining Power 

A copyright is a form of intellectual property that protects an original work of authorship fixed in a tangible medium.¹ Musical compositions and sound recordings are examples of the works protected under this area of law. An owner of a copyright has exclusive rights including,(1) to reproduce the copyrighted work; (2) to prepare derivative works; (3) to distribute copies or phonorecords to the public; (4) to perform the copyrighted work publicly; (5) to display works publicly, and (6) in cases of sound recordings, to perform the copyrighted work publicly by means of a digital audio transmission.² Music artists striving for fame can go independent, while some opt to contract with record labels to target a vaster audience. While there is much more control an artist may possess with their creativity and exploitation of their music going independent, the ample resources and deeper financial pockets of record labels are very alluring. But deeper financial pockets of record labels mean record labels having stronger bargaining power than the music artist, and unconscionability within the contract may occur, leaving the artist disadvantaged.   Read More