Answers/Glossary/Derivative work
Glossary · Copyright
Derivative work
A derivative work is a new work based on one or more pre-existing works — a remix, a translation, an arrangement, a sampled track. Creating one requires permission from the owner of the original, and only the new original material is protected.
The right to prepare derivative works is one of the exclusive rights listed in 17 U.S.C. 106, which means it belongs to the copyright owner and nobody else can exercise it without permission. Remixes, mashups, translated lyrics, new arrangements and tracks built around a recognisable sample are all derivative works.
Two consequences follow. First, an unauthorised derivative work infringes even if you did all the new work yourself and it sounds nothing like the original in the end. Second, the copyright in an authorised derivative work covers only what you added. Remix someone's song with permission and you own your production contribution; you do not acquire any interest in their composition.
This is where the Section 115 compulsory licence has a hard limit that catches cover artists. Section 115 lets you record and release a cover of a released song without asking permission, but it only covers a faithful rendition. The statute permits arrangement to conform the work to your style of interpretation, and expressly does not allow you to change the basic melody or fundamental character of the work. A reharmonised, reimagined, lyrically altered version is a derivative work needing actual permission, not a compulsory cover.
Splice loops sit outside all of this. Splice's licence is royalty-free and non-exclusive, so a track built from Splice sounds is your original work, not a derivative of somebody's protected composition.
The misunderstanding: treating "I changed it enough" as a defence. There is no percentage of change that converts an unauthorised derivative into an original work.
Producer's understanding of a legal concept — get real advice before releasing a remix.
Related terms
- Sample clearanceSample clearance is the process of obtaining permission to use part of an existing recording in a new work.
- InterpolationAn interpolation is a re-performance of a melody, lyric or musical phrase from an existing song in a new recording, rather than a…
- Public domainPublic domain works are works whose copyright has expired or never existed, free for anyone to use without permission or payment.
- Compulsory licenseA compulsory license is a licence the law grants automatically, on set terms, without the copyright owner's consent.
Definitions on this site describe the United States system. I am an artist who has been through this, not a lawyer.
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