Owning the Masters provides the first in-depth history of sound recording copyright. It is this form of intellectual property that underpins the workings of the recording industry. Rather than being focused on the manufacture of goods, this industry is centred on the creation, exploitation and protection of rights. The development and control of these rights has not been straightforward. This book explores the lobbying activities of record companies: the principal creators, owners and defenders of sound recording copyright. It addresses the counter-activity of recording artists, in particular those who have fought against the legislative and contractual practices of record companies to claim these master rights for themselves. In addition, this book looks at the activities of the listening public, large numbers of whom have been labelled ‘pirates’ for trespassing on these rights. The public has played its own part in shaping copyright legislation. This is an essential subject for an understanding of the economic, artistic and political value of recorded sound.

Copyright is a tool used by record labels to extract value from recording artists, but it is also the mechanism that allows artists to profit from their music. In Owning the Masters, Richard Osborne deftly threads a historical narrative between these two positions. This book is indispensable reading for anyone trying to understand the role of copyright in the world today. * David Arditi, Associate Professor of Sociology and Anthropology, The University of Texas at Arlington, USA, and author of Getting Signed: Record Contracts, Musicians and Power in Society *

Richard Osborne is Associate Professor in Music and Creative Industries at Middlesex University, UK. Prior to working in academia he was employed in music retail, held various posts at collecting societies and co-managed a pub. He is the author of Vinyl: A History of the Analogue Record (2012), and co-editor of Mute Records (2019) and Music by Numbers (2021).