Can You Copyright Your Recording of a Licensed Song?

You licensed a song, recorded your own version, and the release is coming. A fair question follows: can you copyright what you made? For the recording, yes. For the song, no. The same answer applies to a cover of a released song.

This guide covers what you own, whether registering is worth it, what it costs and how that may change, and the form mistake that gets claims refused. It describes U.S. law.

What you own, and what you do not

Copyright in a new work exists automatically once the work is fixed, with no filing required. Your recording is a work of its own. The Copyright Office says the copyright in a sound recording covers the recording itself and does not cover the music, lyrics, words or other underlying content in it.

The Office says the authors of a sound recording are the performer featured on it and the producer who captured and processed the sounds. The song stays with its writers. For an artist who records a composition owned by someone else, the Office's guidance is direct: the artist applies for the recording only.

Why your license matters to your copyright

Section 103 of the Copyright Act says that protection for a work built on someone else's copyrighted material "does not extend to any part of the work in which such material has been used unlawfully." It also says the copyright in a derivative work covers only the material its author contributed. A license is what makes your use of the song lawful from the start. Every Starchild license comes with a certificate naming the writers, and /verify checks it, so keep it with your release files.

If you released a cover under a compulsory mechanical license instead, the Copyright Office says that license does not let you claim copyright protection in your arrangement as a derivative work. Your claim is still the recording.

Is registering worth it?

Registration is optional. Here is what the Copyright Office says it gets you.

• For U.S. works, registration (or a refusal) is needed before you can file an infringement suit.
• If you register before an infringement begins, or within three months after publication, you may be eligible for statutory damages, attorneys' fees and costs.
• A certificate made before or within five years of publication is prima facie evidence of the facts it states.
• It creates a public record that names you as the claimant.

Skipping it can be reasonable for a single that earns little. It deserves a closer look when a recording may be pitched, sampled, remixed or uploaded by others, or when a label or buyer may ask for it. You do not need the certificate in hand to release, and if you register before the recording is published, you do not have to register again when it is.

What registering does not do

• It does not register the song. The writers or their publisher do that, as our guide to who registers what explains.
• It does not replace your license. Your license is still the proof that you may use the song.
• It does not sign you up for digital radio royalties. SoundExchange says recording artists and sound recording owners must register with it to receive digital performance royalties, and that registering is free.

The cost, and what may change

On November 1, the Copyright Office's fee page listed $65 for the Standard Application and $45 for a single author, one work, not made for hire, which is the Single Application.

Those numbers may change. The Office sent a proposed new fee schedule to Congress on July 14, 2026. It would raise the Standard Application to $85 and the Single Application to $55. By law, new fees can take effect once 120 days have passed unless Congress passes a law disapproving them, so the change could come as soon as November 12. Nothing is final until the Office announces it, so check the fee page on the day you file.

The form mistake to avoid: the Single Application

The Single Application is cheaper, so it is tempting. The Office's circular on it says a claim filed that way by mistake will be refused and must be refiled on the Standard Application with the full standard fee, which also delays the effective date. The circular adds that most sound recordings are not eligible.

Its list of ineligible sound recordings includes "one sound recording performed by one person who is not the author of the song contained in the recording." It also says a sound recording that includes beats or music purchased or licensed for use on the track must use the Standard Application. If you recorded a licensed song, use the Standard Application.

What to enter on the application

The Office's online form walks you through these points. Follow its help text on each screen, because screens can change.

• Type of work: choose Sound Recording.
• Title: exactly as it appears on the work.
• Author: the featured performer and the producer who captured and processed the sounds. If you did both, that is you. If someone else produced or performed on it, settle ownership in writing first.
• Claimant: the owner of the recording. If the claimant is not the author, the form asks for a transfer statement, such as "by written agreement."
• Authorship: claim the sound recording only, not the music or the lyrics. If the Limitation of Claim screen asks about material you do not own, describe the song there. The Office's Single Application circular calls that screen the place to exclude another person's work from your claim.
• Publication: say whether the recording has been published. If it has, give the date it was first distributed to the public or offered to a group for further distribution or public performance. A public performance alone is not publication.
• Deposit: upload one complete copy of the recording. The Office encourages digital upload for recordings that are unpublished or published only digitally, with each file no larger than 500 MB.

Timing a holiday single

Say your holiday single is published on Friday, November 20. The three-month window then runs to about February 20, 2027. If you would rather not count days, register before release. A recording registered before publication does not need a second registration afterward.

The ℗ line, and keeping your paperwork together

You can mark your release with a copyright notice without registering or asking permission. For a recording, the symbol is ℗ rather than ©, followed by the year of first publication and the owner's name, as in ℗ 2026 Your Name. For a licensed song, that name is the owner of the recording, not the song's writers.

Save your registration confirmation next to your license certificate, your receipt and any signed agreements with the people who helped make the recording. If a platform asks for proof, our guides on what to send and who owns your recording show what to include.

This is general information, not legal advice. For a label deal, a co-owned master or an infringement problem, ask a music attorney.

Sources

• U.S. Copyright Office: Circular 1, Copyright Basics
• U.S. Copyright Office: Circular 3, Copyright Notice
• U.S. Copyright Office: Circular 11, Using the Single Application
• U.S. Copyright Office: Circular 56, Copyright Registration for Sound Recordings
• U.S. Copyright Office: Circular 56A, Copyright Registration of Musical Compositions and Sound Recordings
• U.S. Copyright Office: Circular 73, Compulsory License for Making and Distributing Phonorecords
• U.S. Copyright Office: Title 17, Chapter 1, Subject Matter and Scope of Copyright (Section 103)
• U.S. Copyright Office: Copyright Office Fees
• U.S. Copyright Office: Copyright Office Fee Study, 2026
• U.S. Copyright Office: Proposed Fee Schedule and Analysis, submitted to Congress July 14, 2026
• SoundExchange: Artists, Labels and Producers