Question: Lin produces a video of herself singing a song that John wrote, and uploads it to YouTube. Which of the following is true?
- Lin owns the rights to the music video and sound recording, but John owns the rights to the underlying musical composition.
- Lin owns the rights to all of the content in the video because it’s a derivative work.
- John owns the rights to all of the content in the video because it wouldn’t exist without the song he wrote.
- Lin owns the rights to the sound recording only. John owns the rights to the musical composition and the video.
Explanation
A YouTube upload can contain separate copyrighted works with separate ownership. Lin’s filmed performance can create a Music Video asset, and her captured audio performance can create a Sound Recording asset. John’s song remains the underlying Composition asset because the melody and lyrics are separate from Lin’s recording and video. Creating a new recording or video does not transfer ownership of the original composition.
Why the other options are incorrect
Derivative work is incorrect because creating a version of a song does not give Lin ownership of the underlying composition.
John owns all content is incorrect because composition rights do not automatically include Lin’s new recording or video.
Sound recording only is incorrect because Lin may also own rights in the video she created.
Source for verification
https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/6175220?hl=en
https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/6175227?hl=en
The answer(s) to the question is highlighted in the BOLD text above. You can also find more questions and answers related to the exams on the "YouTube Music Rights Management" page.