What are the two copyrights in each piece of recorded music?

• A. Copyright in the performance and copyright in the lyrics
• B. Copyright in the film's score and copyright in the video
• C. Copyright in the musical composition and copyright in the recording
• D. Copyright in the publisher's marks and copyright in the album art

Answer: (B)

The main idea is that a single piece of recorded music sits on two separate copyrights: the underlying musical composition and the actual sound recording. The musical composition covers the song itself—the melody, harmony, and lyrics—and is owned by the creator and publisher. The sound recording covers the specific recorded performance you hear on the track and is owned by the performer and the recording label or producer. Licensing a song often requires both: a license for the composition to use the song itself, and a license for the recording if you want to use that particular recorded performance.

The correct choice names these two elements: the musical composition and the recording. The other options mix in elements that aren’t the two copyrights in a piece of recorded music—for example, lyrics and performance are part of the composition but aren’t separate copyrights from the composition, while film score, video, publisher’s marks, or album art are not the two copyrights governing a standard sound recording.