The musical work in copyright law

Rahmatian, A. (2024) The musical work in copyright law. GRUR International, 73(1), pp. 18-33. (doi: 10.1093/grurint/ikad105)

Abstract

Music is a special art form and a special object for copyright protection. In contrast to other, more static, forms of art, such as most of the visual arts, music is fashioned time and therefore constitutes change and movement; it also exists only in its performance. This article shows how copyright constructs a normative device, the ‘musical work’, to be able to protect this fleeting and transient art form. The article also discusses how music is analysed to ascertain which of its elements obtain copyright protection against infringement, and whether a ‘hearing test’ is an adequate method for establishing infringement.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Rahmatian, Professor Andreas
• Authors: Rahmatian, A.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > School of Law
• Journal Name: GRUR International
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• ISSN: 2632-8623
• ISSN (Online): 632-8550
• Published Online: 19 October 2023
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2023 The Authors
• First Published: First published in GRUR International 2023
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the publisher copyright policy