Sound recording copyright symbol facts for kids

The ℗ symbol is a special mark you might see on music albums, CDs, or other sound recordings. It looks like a capital letter "P" inside a circle. This symbol is used to show that the sound recording is protected by copyright.

Copyright is a legal right that protects original works, like songs, books, or movies. For sound recordings, the ℗ symbol tells everyone that the recording itself belongs to someone. This means people can't just copy or use the recording without permission.

What Does ℗ Mean?

The letter "P" in the ℗ symbol stands for "phonogram." This is a fancy word used in many countries for what we call a "sound recording" in the United States. A phonogram is basically the sound itself, like a recorded song or a spoken story.

Why Sound Recordings Have Their Own Copyright

It's important to know that a sound recording has its own separate copyright. This is different from the copyright for the song's music or lyrics.

• Imagine a song: There's the music and the words (lyrics). These are protected by one type of copyright.
• Then, someone records that song. The actual recording of the performance – the sounds you hear – gets its own separate copyright.

So, the ℗ symbol protects only that specific recording. If the same artist records the song again, that new recording would need its own ℗ symbol and copyright.

How the ℗ Symbol Is Used

In the United States, when a sound recording is first made public, the ℗ symbol is used as part of a special notice. This notice helps tell everyone who owns the copyright.

The notice usually includes three things:

• The ℗ symbol itself.
• The year the sound recording was first made public.
• The name of the copyright owner. This could be a person's name, a company's name, or a well-known abbreviation. Sometimes, if the producer of the recording is named on the album or packaging, their name can count as the owner's name.

When Did the ℗ Symbol Start?

The ℗ symbol was first introduced in 1971. It became part of the copyright laws in the United States and was also agreed upon in an international treaty. This treaty, called the Geneva Phonograms Convention, helps protect sound recordings across different countries from being copied without permission.