What Ownership of a song means
Generally, the owner of a copyright has the right to decide how, when, and by whom the copyrghted work is distributed. In the case of song copyrights, though, there are some uses that are automatically granted without the express okay of the owner.
The copyright owner must consent to the very first publicly released recording of a song. If your song has never been released before, no one has the right to record and release your song unless you say okay.
That all changes after you say okay. Once there is a publicly released recording of your song, anyone can re-record it under a compulsory mechanical license. You are entitled to royalty payments at a rate set by law for each copy of the recording produced, but you do not have the legal right to stop a heavy metal band from recording your folk protest song.
You also do not have the right to keep recordings of your songs from being played on the radio or over satellite, cable or internet stations, but you do have the right to collect royalties for those spins. Royalties for radio play are collected the performing rights societies on your behalf - ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC.
You do have the right to consent to any use of your song set to a visual medium, or to uses other than purely audio releases.
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