Legal Definitions - Sound Recording Amendment of 1972

The Sound Recording Amendment of 1972 was a pivotal change to U.S. copyright law. Prior to this amendment, copyright protection primarily covered written musical compositions, lyrics, and other creative works. This 1972 amendment extended copyright protection specifically to sound recordings themselves, meaning the particular arrangement of sounds captured on a phonorecord, tape, or other medium. This made it illegal to reproduce or distribute copies of a specific sound recording without the permission of the copyright holder.

Here are some examples to illustrate its impact:

• Protecting a Master Recording: Imagine a record label releasing a new album by a popular rock band in late 1972. Before this amendment, while the band's original songs were protected, the specific recorded performance on the album (the "master recording") might not have been. With the Sound Recording Amendment of 1972, the record label and the artists gained copyright protection for that particular recorded version of the songs, preventing others from making unauthorized copies of that exact recording.

• Unique Performance of an Older Song: Consider a jazz ensemble that records a unique instrumental rendition of a traditional folk song in 1973. Since the folk song itself is very old, it is in the public domain and cannot be copyrighted. However, under the 1972 amendment, the jazz ensemble's specific recorded performance of that song, with their unique arrangement, improvisation, and sound, gained its own copyright protection. This meant others could perform the folk song, but they could not directly copy and distribute the jazz ensemble's particular recording without permission.

• Combating Unauthorized Duplication: In the mid-1970s, a small, unauthorized company began selling cassette tapes that contained exact copies of popular songs directly lifted from commercially released vinyl records. The Sound Recording Amendment of 1972 made this activity illegal. The record companies and artists who owned the copyright to those specific sound recordings could now legally pursue action against the unauthorized company for infringement, as the amendment protected the recorded performance itself from such direct, unauthorized duplication.