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The Boundaries of 'Authorship' and 'Performance' in Musical Copyright

In the last two decades a number of disputes over authorship in collaborative musical works have appeared in UK courts. These cases generally involve a claim to joint authorship made by musicians who have contributed to a musical work, such as studio musicians or drummers, but are not part of the band or recognised as the major creative figureheads. To resolve these disputes courts have invoked distinctions between ‘authors’ and ‘performers’, contributions which are ‘of the right kind’ and contributions which aren’t. This essay examines the application of these distinctions, exploring the history and assumptions underlying them as well as comparing and contrasting the results they lead to. The essay concludes that such distinctions are problematic, and while judicial reasoning has played its part their causes ultimately run far deeper.