united-states copyright international music derivative-work
Creating a cover song for a video game
<p>Based on some cursory internet searches, I understand the following:</p>
<ul>
<li>If you create a cover song, you still need a license for it from whoever owns the original song.</li>
<li>If you want to put a song in a video game (or movie, or video, etc) you need a synchronization license, which cannot be compelled, only negotiated for.</li>
</ul>
<p>So if I create my own cover song to put in a video game, which steps do I need to follow? Does that mean I only have to seek out a synchronization license from whoever owns the original song? Do I need to do anything else with anyone else?</p>
<p>United States, but the creator lives in the Netherlands. Label is in Germany.</p>

<p>Under US copyright law, anyone may make a &quot;cover recording&quot; of a musical work (such as a song) that is not part of a drama (such as an opera or musical comedy). The would-be cover artist can either negotiate for permission and a royalty rate, or use a compulsory license, known as a &quot;mechanical license&quot;, at a royalty rate fixed by law. The right to do this is given by <a href="https://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap1.html#115" rel="nofollow noreferrer">17 USC 115</a>. However that section of the copyright law is rather complex and confusing. The <a href="https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/question-when-mechanical-royalty-due-28002.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Nolo press explanation of cover rights</a> says:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>To record a song for release to the public, a performer must obtain permission from the music publisher of the song and pay a fee, called a mechanical royalty. A mechanical royalty must be paid when songs are reproduced, for example on compact discs or records.</p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<p>There are two ways to get permission and pay the mechanical royalty:</p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<ul>
<li>A compulsory license may be used, and the preset statutory mechanical royalty rate paid directly to the music publisher—the easiest, least stressful method.</li>
<li>Permission and a mechanical royalty may be negotiated directly with the music publisher or the Harry Fox Agency.</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<p>Under the compulsory license procedures, you need not ask the music publisher's permission to make the recording or negotiate a license fee. Instead, you merely inform the publisher of the recording and pay a license fee set by law.</p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<p>You can get helpful information about the procedure by downloading Circular 50, Copyright Registration for Musical Compositions, from the U.S. Copyright Office.</p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<p>When using the compulsory license procedure, the music publisher must be paid a mechanical royalty rate set by the government—sometimes known as the statutory rate.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>There are additional restrictions. A mechanical license is not available unless the4 copyright owner has previously made or authorized a recording of the work and released it for distribution. A mechanical license is only available for the purpose of creating and distributing copied for individual use, not for broadcast.</p>
<p>However, as explained in <a href="https://flypaper.soundfly.com/hustle/how-to-legally-cover-a-song/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this Soundfly article</a> if the musical work is presented along with any visual content, such as  a video, a &quot;synchronization license&quot; is also needed. This would very likely apply to a video game. As Soundfly says:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Typically, in order to acquire a sync license, you just need to ask the publisher. Unfortunately, there are no set prices for this kind of thing – we don’t even have a pricing scale available! Sometimes you can get it for free, and other times it’s going to cost you dearly. Hopefully, it won’t be the latter.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This is not covered by the compulsory (mechanical) license, and must be obtained via negotiation. That means the would-be user must find out who the copyright holder is first.</p>
<p>By the way, the compulsory license is called &quot;mechanical&quot; because this provision was originally passed to permit making rolls for player pianos, which reproduced notes mechanically.</p>
<p>In short, both a cover license and a sync license are needed, and the second must be negotiated.</p>
<p>See also <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cover_version#U.S._copyright_law" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this Wikipedia article</a>.</p>
