Acerca de

When two songwriters co-write a song, typically both songwriters will contribute to both the lyrics and the music. Sometimes, two songwriters create the lyrics and music separately from one another. In this case, each songwriter owns 50% of the underlying composition copyright. One songwriter is not the sole owner of the lyrics while the other is the sole owner of the music — each songwriter owns 50% of the total song (music, lyrics, and all). This is an oversimplified situation in terms of copyright law, however. Depending on genre and territory, songwriters often negotiate the actual ownership percentage based on their contributions to the composition.

Any royalties collected on the song for either party must be split according to the same ownership percentages unless a different royalty percentage is specified in a separate agreement. Even the reprinting of lyrics, a royalty-garnering action, results in 50% of print royalties to the other songwriter because you both share in the song’s underlying composition copyright.

Keep in mind the distinction between a sound recording copyright and an underlying composition copyright. Underlying composition copyrights are administered by music publishers on behalf of songwriters. Both music and lyrics make up the underlying composition copyright.