How to Find Out Who Owns a Song, and Who to Ask for Permission

To find out who owns a song, search two things separately: the song, which has writers and publishers, and the recording, which has a label or an artist. No single database lists both, and none of them is proof of ownership.

You might be planning a cover, checking a seller's claim or crediting a writer. Whatever the reason, a short route saves you from guessing: check what is printed, search the song, find the recording, and read the results with care. This guide covers U.S. sources.

Start with what is already printed

The Copyright Office suggests starting with the work itself: the copyright notice and, for a recording, the disc, sleeve or container it came in. On a streaming service, open the credits. Spotify says credits come from the metadata a label or distributor sends and can include songwriters, producers and engineers.

Write down every name exactly as it appears, plus the title, the label or distributor and the year. You will need them for the next steps.

Find the writers and publishers

These are the places to search for the song itself.

• Songview. ASCAP, BMI, GMR and SESAC share this project. It reconciles song ownership data from each organization and publishes it through ASCAP's repertory search and BMI's repertoire search, so one search can show writers, publishers and ownership shares for public performance.
• The MLC's Public Work Search. It is free, and The MLC says it lets anyone, from songwriters to the general public, view musical work ownership information.
• The Harry Fox Agency's list. Its help page names ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, the U.S. Copyright Office and The MLC's Public Search as the databases to locate publisher information.

Search by title plus one writer's last name, since many titles repeat. Check more than one database, because each holds different data. If you meet a term you do not know, such as share or administrator, our song licensing glossary defines it.

Find the owner of the recording

The song and the recording are separate works with separate owners, and the Copyright Office says licenses generally must be obtained separately from each. Writer and publisher databases describe the song, not the recording.

For the recording, look at the label or distributor in the credits and at the ℗ line, when one is shown. The Copyright Office says a notice for a recording uses the ℗ symbol, the year of first publication and the owner's name. An ISRC is the code that identifies a recording, not a song. The International ISRC Agency says you can enter an ISRC in its database to retrieve registered recording data.

If you plan to record your own version, you do not need the original recording at all. You need permission for the song.

Check the Copyright Office records

The Office's Copyright Public Records System holds registrations and recorded documents, such as transfers. It is worth a look when you need the legal owner of a song or a recording, because a registration can name a claimant and a recorded transfer can show who bought the rights.

Registration is optional, though, so a protected song can have no entry. The Office says the complete absence of any information about a work in its records does not mean the work is unprotected, and that a search may not cover recent registrations.

How to read what you find

• Treat each entry as a lead, not proof. The MLC's own terms say its ownership data "may not be complete or reflect the entire copyright ownership," and may no longer be current.
• If two databases disagree, ask the publisher or the writer which one is right. Do not guess.
• No result does not mean free to use. A work can be protected and still be missing from a database.
• Songview describes rights licensed in the United States. For a song written elsewhere, the writer's home society may hold more of the picture.
• Ask who can grant the exact permission you need. The Copyright Office says only the current owner of the exact material can give it.

When the databases come up empty

• A new song may simply not be registered yet. Registering is the job of the writer or publisher, so ask them.
• Try the title spelled another way, then add a writer's name.
• If you licensed through a marketplace, ask it how to reach the writer, and ask for the details you need in writing.
• Save a dated note or screenshot of each search. If a question comes up later, you can show what you checked and when.
• If the stakes are high and the trail goes cold, a music attorney can run a formal rights search.

A worked example

Say you hear a ballad on a playlist and want to record your own version. The streaming credits name two writers. You search the title and one writer's last name in Songview and find one publisher, two writers and shares that add up to 100 percent. The MLC's Public Work Search lists the same writers.

The recording belongs to a label, but you are not using that recording, so you do not need to contact the label. You contact the publisher about a license for the song, or you check whether a mechanical license fits, as our guide to mechanical licenses explains.

Who to ask, and what to say

• The song: the publisher shown in the databases, or the writer if there is no publisher.
• The recording: the label, distributor or artist named in the credits.
• Both: if you want to use the original recording itself, you need the owners of the song and of the recording.

The Copyright Office suggests including these details in a request: the author's name, the title, the exact material you want to use, the copyright date, how you will use it, the audience, whether it will be sold, and your contact information. It also advises contacting the owner well in advance. The first person you reach may only be able to refer you to the right owner.

If you license through a marketplace

Much of this work is already done. A Starchild license certificate names the writers, and /verify checks a license, so you can show where your permission comes from. It still helps to look your song up in Songview and The MLC once the writers have registered it, and to ask your distributor to fix any spelling differences.

Our guide to who registers what explains the split of jobs, and the year-end paperwork checklist is a good time to do the lookup. If you are still choosing a song, start with songs for artists.

This is general information, not legal advice. If the results conflict or the owner cannot be found, ask a music attorney.

Sources

• Songview
• The MLC: The MLC's Tools
• The MLC: Musical Works Database Terms of Use
• Harry Fox Agency Help: How do I get a license for print, sampling, public domain and synchronization use?
• U.S. Copyright Office: Copyright Public Records System
• U.S. Copyright Office: Circular 22, How to Investigate the Copyright Status of a Work
• U.S. Copyright Office: Circular 16A, How to Obtain Permission
• U.S. Copyright Office: Circular 3, Copyright Notice
• U.S. Copyright Office: Circular 73, Compulsory License for Making and Distributing Phonorecords
• Spotify for Artists: Clickable song credits on Spotify
• International ISRC Agency (IFPI): What is an ISRC?