Talk:Pre-release cover version

A fact from Pre-release cover version appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know column on 8 October 2013 (check views). The text of the entry was as follows: Did you know... that pre-release cover versions are common in the UK because songs by big acts get weeks of airplay before being released? A record of the entry may be seen at Wikipedia:Recent additions/2013/October. The nomination discussion and review may be seen at Template:Did you know nominations/Pre-release cover version.

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Legality

I don't think this practice is legal in the United States, as the Techdirt source claims. It claims that Mechanical royalties (in the US) allow for covers once the original artist has recorded the song (not “recorded and published” or “recorded and made available for purchase”)., citing an older version of the Royalty payment Wikipedia article.

But under the Copyright Act of 1976, the composition has to have been distributed to the public before any cover recordings can be made. This is the version of the law that was in effect before the Music Modernization Act (via Wikisource:

When phonorecords of a nondramatic musical work have been distributed to the public in the United States under the authority of the copyright owner, any other person may, by complying with the provisions of this section, obtain a compulsory license to make and distribute phonorecords of the work....

— 17 U.S.C. § 115(a)(1)

Qzekrom (she/her • talk) 22:59, 15 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]