🎶 Legal Limits to Respect When Covering or Reinterpreting a Musical Work

Creating a cover or remake of a musical work may seem like a practical and creative option for artists, but it can raise intellectual property issues. It's therefore essential to understand the limits and legal requirements related to this practice.

📢 Copyright and Musical Work Covers

Copyright exists to protect intellectual creations, and any exploitation of a work without the author's authorization or that of their rights holders constitutes infringement. It's therefore crucial to respect the rights of authors and rights holders of a work when creating a cover or remake.

In Europe, copyright is flexible enough to allow anyone to re-record and distribute a work. However, it's important to research the authors and composers of a work before covering it, as a song known under an artist's name may actually have been written and composed by a different person. Works are protected until 70 years after the death of the last living author, after which they enter the public domain.

🎯 What Does Copyright Protect?

Copyright only covers the melody and lyrics of a song, not the recording or performance. Performers' and producers' rights are covered by other laws.

📢 Rules to Respect When Creating a Cover

When you create a cover, you must respect the original work in its music and lyrics. You cannot modify a word or note without prior authorization. This also implies mentioning the authors and rights holders of the work on any medium or distribution service, as they will receive copyright through SACEM.

📢 Does Creating a Cover Give Rights to the Original Work?

Creating a cover gives you no rights to the original work. All copyright is returned to the rights holders of the original work. If you sing covers live on stage or your cover is broadcast on radio, you won't receive copyright, only neighboring rights.

🎯 How to Add a Personal Touch to Your Cover?

For a successful cover, it's essential to add a personal touch to the interpretation. You can play with tempo, instrumentation, or arrangements to bring another perspective to the work. However, this shouldn't be a copy of the original, but rather a creative interpretation.

📢 Modifying a Work That's Not in the Public Domain

If you wish to modify a work that's not in the public domain, you'll need to obtain authorization from all rights holders of the work. It's important to respect the moral rights of authors, as only authors can accept that their work be modified.

📢 Summary

Creating a cover or remake requires respecting the original work and its rights holders, as well as not modifying the work without authorization. Covers give no copyright to the performer and rights are returned to the rights holders of the original work. If you wish to create a cover with a personal touch, it's important not to distort the original work and to respect the rights of the rights holders.

Patrimonial rights, meanwhile, are the author's right to derive financial profit from their work, by transferring or licensing exploitation rights to third parties.

📢 Copyright: A Complex Issue

Copyright is a complex issue and can vary by country. For example, in the United States, the rules are different from those in Europe. It's therefore recommended to consult a lawyer specializing in intellectual property if you have doubts or questions.

Note: We are not lawyers or legal experts. We strongly advise you to contact a professional for more precise information.

Updated on: 09/09/2025