Do you need permission to release a cover song?

Unlike clearing a sample, which means negotiating with the owners, recording a cover of someone else's song is one of the few uses of music where federal law lets you go ahead without asking first, provided you stay inside the statute's limits. Those limits are narrower than many artists expect. This page is part of our entertainment law guidance for artists and producers.

How a cover gets licensed, step by step

1. Check that the song qualifies. It must already have been distributed to the public in the United States with its owner's authority, and your purpose must be releasing audio recordings to the public (17 U.S.C. 115(a)(1)(A)).
2. Record your own version. Use your own performance, not any part of the original recording, and keep changes within the arrangement privilege described below (17 U.S.C. 115(a)(1)(B), (a)(2)).
3. For streaming and downloads, release through the services. Their blanket license covers the song, and they report and pay the Mechanical Licensing Collective (17 U.S.C. 115(d)(1)).
4. For CDs, vinyl or tapes, find the owner. Search the Copyright Office's registration and other public records for the song's owner and an address (37 CFR 201.18(f)(1)).
5. Serve the notice of intention. Send it to the owner or its authorized agent before making the recording or within 30 calendar days after, and in every case before distributing any copies (17 U.S.C. 115(b)(1); 37 CFR 201.18(a)(2)(i)). If the records show no owner and address, file it with the Copyright Office instead.
6. Pay every month. Royalties are due by the 20th for the month before, with statements of account, under the rules in the physical-copies section below.
7. Negotiate anything the license does not cover. A video, a reworked melody or an unreleased song needs the owner's agreement.

When is the compulsory license available?

The Copyright Act makes the rights to make and distribute recordings of a nondramatic musical work subject to a compulsory license (17 U.S.C. 115). You can use it only if your primary purpose is distributing recordings to the public for private use, and only if recordings of the song have already been distributed to the public in the United States under the authority of its copyright owner (17 U.S.C. 115(a)(1)(A)). A song that has never been released with the owner's authority is generally not available under the compulsory license, so it needs a negotiated license.

The license covers the song, not any existing recording of it. It does not let you duplicate a recording someone else fixed unless the owner of that recording authorized it (17 U.S.C. 115(a)(1)(B)). Using a piece of the original track is sampling, which raises a separate permission question for the recording itself; our guide to clearing a music sample step by step walks through it. The license also reaches only the rights to reproduce and distribute recordings, clauses (1) and (3) of section 106, so it does not license public performance.

How much can you change the song?

The compulsory license includes the privilege of arranging the song to suit the style or manner of interpretation of your performance. The arrangement may not change the basic melody or fundamental character of the work, and it is not protected as a derivative work unless the copyright owner expressly consents (17 U.S.C. 115(a)(2)).

A new tempo, genre or instrumentation is the kind of stylistic change that privilege describes. Rewritten lyrics, a reworked melody or a mashup with another song are harder to fit inside it, and a version that goes beyond the arrangement privilege is outside the compulsory license, which means you need the owner's agreement. Where the line falls depends on the actual changes, so a heavily reworked version is worth reviewing before release. If you are writing an original song that borrows from an existing one, that is not a cover at all; it is a copying question, which our page on how courts decide song copying covers.

How are streaming and download releases licensed?

Mostly on the services' side. A digital music provider can obtain a blanket license through the Mechanical Licensing Collective covering every musical work available for compulsory licensing, for permanent downloads, limited downloads and interactive streams (17 U.S.C. 115(d)(1), (e)(7)). The service reports usage and pays the collective, which pays the song's owners. Our page on how the Mechanical Licensing Collective pays songwriters explains that side of the system.

Two qualifications apply. A record company can instead obtain an individual download license for permanent downloads of a specific song by serving a notice of intention on the copyright owner (17 U.S.C. 115(b)(3)). And the Copyright Office no longer accepts notices of intention for digital deliveries; it accepts them only for physical formats such as CDs, vinyl and tapes (Copyright Office, Section 115 notices of intention). A notice filed with the Office that touches digital deliveries at all is rejected (37 CFR 201.18(g)).

What about CDs, vinyl and other physical copies?

Here you obtain the compulsory license yourself, through the notice of intention. The notice must be headed as a notice of intention to obtain a compulsory license and state, among other things, your full legal name and any assumed names, a street address, your fiscal year, and for each song its title, the formats, the expected release date, the principal artist and the label and catalog number (37 CFR 201.18(d)). If the Copyright Office's records do not identify the owner and an address, you file the notice with the Office for a $75 fee plus a charge for additional titles (Copyright Office fees). Skipping the notice forecloses the compulsory license, and without a voluntary license, making and distributing the copies is actionable as infringement (17 U.S.C. 115(b)(4)(A)).

Royalties under the compulsory license are due monthly, by the 20th, for the previous month, with each payment made under oath and annual statements of account certified by a CPA (17 U.S.C. 115(c)(2)(I)). If payments stop, the owner can send written notice, and the license terminates automatically unless the default is cured within 30 days (17 U.S.C. 115(c)(2)(J)). Termination makes the unpaid copies infringing, with the remedies set out in our page on copyright infringement damages. For 2026 the statutory rate is 13.1 cents for each song of five minutes or less (37 CFR 385.11); our page on the mechanical royalty rate in 2026 covers longer songs and streaming.

Many physical releases use a negotiated license with the publisher or its agent instead. The statute allows that, and a voluntary license takes effect in place of the rates the Copyright Royalty Judges set (17 U.S.C. 115(c)(1)(D), (c)(2)(A)(i)).

Why does a cover in a video need a separate license?

Because section 115 licenses phonorecords, and the Copyright Act defines phonorecords to exclude sounds accompanying a motion picture or other audiovisual work (17 U.S.C. 101). The statute's definition of a digital phonorecord delivery excludes those sounds too (17 U.S.C. 115(e)(10)). A music video, a performance clip, a film or an ad with your cover in it is outside the compulsory license, so you need a negotiated license from the song's owner, usually called a synchronization license, and the owner can set terms or decline. Our list of common music licensing mistakes made by artists and film productions covers more of the pitfalls on that side.

What changes the answer

• Whether the song has been released. No authorized U.S. release means no compulsory license (17 U.S.C. 115(a)(1)(A)).
• The format. Streams and downloads run through the services' blanket license (17 U.S.C. 115(d)(1)); physical copies need your own notice (17 U.S.C. 115(b)(1)); audiovisual uses are not phonorecords at all (17 U.S.C. 101).
• How far you rework it. Style and interpretation are covered; a new melody or a changed fundamental character is not (17 U.S.C. 115(a)(2)).
• Whether the owner is on record. An owner not identified in the Copyright Office's records can collect only for copies made and distributed after being identified (17 U.S.C. 115(c)(1)(A)), and your notice then goes to the Office (37 CFR 201.18(f)(3)).
• A negotiated license. A voluntary license replaces the statutory terms (17 U.S.C. 115(c)(2)(A)).
• The song's age. A song whose copyright has ended needs no license; our page on how long a song's copyright lasts shows how to tell.

A worked example

Common mistakes

• Shipping CDs before the notice of intention is served. The statute requires the notice before any copies are distributed.
• Filing a notice with the Copyright Office for a streaming release. The Office rejects any notice that pertains to digital deliveries.
• Filing with the Office when its records do list the owner and an address. In that case the notice is served on the owner.
• Sending the notice by regular mail with no proof of the date, which leaves the burden of proving timely service on you.
• Treating a lyric video or performance clip as covered by the compulsory license, when audiovisual uses need a sync license.
• Letting monthly payments lapse; after written notice and 30 days, the license ends for the unpaid copies.

What to do this week

1. Confirm the song has an authorized U.S. release and note the original's details.
2. Search the Copyright Office's public records for the song's owner and an address.
3. Decide the formats: streaming and downloads only, physical copies, a video, or all three.
4. For physical copies, draft the notice with your legal name, street address, fiscal year, formats, release date, artist and catalog number, and send it by certified mail.
5. Put the 20th of each month on your calendar for payments and statements.
6. For any video, ask the publisher for a synchronization license before filming or posting.

Frequently asked questions

Can the songwriter refuse to let me release my cover?

Not for an audio release that meets the statute: once the song has an authorized U.S. release and you follow the notice and payment rules, the compulsory license is available. The owner can refuse a video use or a version that goes beyond the arrangement privilege, because those need a negotiated license.

Do I need a license to perform a cover live?

The compulsory license covers only reproduction and distribution, not public performance (17 U.S.C. 115(a)(1)). Public performance is licensed separately, often through the performing rights organizations described in our page on how PROs and the ASCAP and BMI consent decrees work.

What if I cannot find who owns the song?

If the Copyright Office's records do not identify the owner and an address, you file the notice with the Office, stating that the records were searched (37 CFR 201.18(d)(1)(vi), (f)(3)). An owner who is not identified in those records is not entitled to royalties for copies made and distributed before being identified (17 U.S.C. 115(c)(1)(A)).

Can I register a copyright in my cover?

You can register your sound recording, but not the song, which belongs to its owner. Circular 56A says an artist recording someone else's song files for the recording only, as our page on registering a song's composition and recording explains, and your arrangement is not protected as a derivative work without the owner's express consent (17 U.S.C. 115(a)(2)).

Do I earn anything when my cover is streamed?

The mechanical royalty goes to the song's owners. As the owner of the recording, you may earn digital performance royalties for non-interactive streams, which our page on how artists get paid from internet radio explains.

Zala IP Law advises artists, producers and labels on clearance, licensing and releases. If you are planning a cover, especially one with new lyrics or a video, request a consultation or call 404-313-1701.