With recorded music copyright, only the copyright holder, or those authorized by the copyright holder, have the right to distribute or make copies (by rental, sale or ownership transfer), and to perform the work in a public concert or play the recorded version on the radio, according to the Stereophile website. Any individual who copies or distributes the recorded music who is not the copyright owner is subject to civil and/or criminal penalties because of copyright infringement.
An individual author of a copyrighted material has protection while the creator is alive, as well as 70 years after death, according to the U.S. Copyright website. For works made for hire, such as works under contract or developed by employees, the copyright protection is 95 years. In this case, the employer is considered the author of the work.
The U.S. Copyright Law ensures copyright owners that remedies are in place for individuals who make illegal copies of music recordings. The first is for statutory damages ranging from $750 to $30,000. The court can also punish offenders up to $150,000. Fines jump up to $250,000, and/or five years of imprisonment, if an individual is proved to have willful infringed on a copyright specifically for private financial gain or commercial advantage.
The first U.S. copyright clause was enacted in 1790, but it only covered charts, maps and books. In 1831, the second U.S. copyright law included musical compositions. The copyright law specifically added musical recordings as copyrightable material in 1972, after several people committed copyright infringement of music recordings on vinyl records by copies on magnetic tapes, according to the RBS2 website.