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What is a work

What a work is

The word “work” is used in many different contexts – from fine art and architecture to software. In music and copyright, however, it has a precise legal meaning. And that meaning is essential for you as an artist.

A work under the Copyright Act

The basic definition can be found in the Czech Copyright Act (Act No. 121/2000 Coll., on Copyright), specifically in Section 2(1):

Section 2(1) of Act No. 121/2000 Coll. (Copyright Act)

“The subject matter of copyright is a literary work and any other work of art, and a scientific work, which is the unique result of the author’s creative activity and is expressed in any objectively perceptible form, including electronic form, whether permanently or temporarily, irrespective of its scope, purpose or significance.” (Adapted.)

The Act then gives explicit examples: A literary work, a musical work, a dramatic work, an audiovisual work, a work of fine art, a work of architecture and others. For us, the musical work is what matters most – in its various forms.

A “work” can mean many things

In everyday speech, we call a painting, a sculpture, a novel or a film a “work”. In this article, however, we focus exclusively on the musical work in the context of digital distribution and copyright – that is, on what you create as a musician and what you protect. If you are interested in the wider legal framework, we recommend consulting a lawyer who specialises in copyright.

Three types of musical work

OSA (Ochranný svaz autorský, the Czech authors’ society) – and with it the whole system of collective management – divides musical works into three basic categories:

  

Musical work

The melody and harmony alone – without lyrics. Typically an instrumental piece. The author is the composer.

  

Lyrical work

The song lyrics alone – words without music. The author is the lyricist. (They can also exist on their own, e.g. as a poem.)

  

Musical work with lyrics

The song as a whole – music and lyrics together. The most common case. The authors are the composer and the lyricist (who may be one and the same person).

This distinction is important especially when registering a work with OSA – each type of work is registered separately and each author (composer, lyricist) has their own share of the royalties.

Work vs. recording – a fundamental difference

This is one of the most common sources of confusion. A work and a recording are two different things, protected by different rights and held by different parties.

Work (composition)

  • Notes, melody, lyrics – an abstract creative result.
  • Protected by copyright.
  • Belongs to the author (composer, lyricist).
  • Identified by an ISWC code.
  • Managed by OSA (in the Czech Republic).
  • There is one work called “Yesterday” by Lennon/McCartney.

Recording (sound recording)

A practical example

You write a song and record it in the studio. Two different things come into being: The work (your song – the melody and lyrics) and the recording (the specific sound recording made in that studio). If someone else then sings the same song again, a new recording is created – but the work stays the same, and as its author you are still entitled to author royalties from every play.

Who is the author of a work?

Under Section 5(1) of the Copyright Act: “The author is the natural person who created the work.” So only a human being can be an author – not a company, not AI, not a producer as such (unless they took part in the creative side).

An author may create under their real name or under an (officially registered) pseudonym – this does not limit their copyright in any way. The Act explicitly recognises pseudonymous works (Section 7 of the Copyright Act). If you want to credit such a pseudonym as the author of your recordings, provide proof of it in Artists Bez Labelu in the Requests section (Songwriter pseudonym).

If a work was created through the collaboration of several people (composer + lyricist), it is a work of joint authorship (Section 8 of the Copyright Act) – the rights belong to all of them jointly and severally. Each author then has their own share, which is stated when registering with OSA.

The author of a work must be distinguished from the performer – the performer interprets the work (sings, plays), but need not be its author. A singer who sings someone else’s song is a performer, not the author of the work.

What rights protect a work?

Copyright is divided into two basic components – moral rights and economic rights. Moral rights cannot be transferred and expire on the author’s death – they include the right to be credited as the author, the right to the integrity of the work and so on. Even after the author’s death, however, no one may claim their authorship, the work may only be used in a way that does not diminish its value, and the author must be credited (Section 11(5) of the Copyright Act). Economic rights allow you to benefit financially from the work – and these can be licensed or transferred.

A work is protected automatically from the moment it is created – it requires no registration or © notice. Even so, registering with OSA makes practical sense – without it, the collecting society cannot pay you royalties for plays.

A work is protected for the author’s lifetime and 70 years after their death (Section 27 of the Copyright Act). A recording has shorter protection – the rights of the producer of a sound recording last 50 years from when it was made and, if it was published within that period, 70 years from publication (Section 77 of the Copyright Act).

Marking the rights holder of a work with the © (C-line) symbol is a custom, not an obligation – but it helps to state clearly who holds the rights. The rights holder of a recording is then indicated by the ℗ (P-line) symbol.

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