Why should musicians seal their music before signing contracts?

Sealing your music (applying a qualified electronic timestamp) before signing any contract establishes a court-admissible record that your music existed in its specific form at a specific date, before any record label, publisher, producer, or distributor had access to it. This protects you if: (1) a label hears your music and later claims they had a similar idea independently; (2) a producer claims they created key elements you submitted; (3) contract negotiations fail and you later discover your unreleased music has been used; (4) disputes arise over which version of a track you agreed to release. The qualified timestamp from an eIDAS QTSP (eIDAS Art. 41(2)) proves your version predated any contract, independently of what any party claims afterward.

What should musicians timestamp before a label deal?

Before any label, publishing, management, or distribution deal: (1) Master recordings, the final mixed and mastered audio files; (2) Demos, all demo versions that were submitted or shared; (3) Lyrics and lead sheets, the written composition; (4) Produced tracks and stems, if you produced the music, timestamp the project file and stems; (5) Email submissions and pitch materials, evidence of what you shared and when; (6) Any agreement drafts or term sheets received, establishing what was proposed before a contract was signed; (7) Co-writer split sheets, signed agreements with any collaborators. Each timestamp and creates a legal presumption of the content and date. It is a comprehensive protective record established before any commercial relationship begins.

What rights does a record label typically claim and how can musicians protect themselves?

Record labels typically claim ownership of master recordings (the sound recordings themselves), the right to distribute and exploit these masters for a defined or indefinite term, and sometimes publishing rights (the composition copyright). Musicians typically retain (unless assigned): the composition copyright (melody + lyrics), performance rights (managed through collecting societies like SUISA), and moral rights (attribution + integrity rights, which are non-waivable in Switzerland and most EU jurisdictions). To protect yourself: (1) always have a qualified entertainment lawyer review any label contract; (2) timestamp all pre-deal recordings so you have independent evidence of what you owned before the deal; (3) negotiate retention of composition rights; (4) negotiate clear reversion clauses if the label fails to commercially exploit the master recordings.

How do moral rights protect musicians in Switzerland?

Swiss copyright law (URG Art. 9-11) protects moral rights, rights that protect the personal relationship between a creator and their work. In Switzerland, moral rights include: the right of attribution (to be named as author), the right of integrity (to prevent distortion or mutilation of the work), and the right of access (to access a copy of the work). Unlike economic rights, moral rights in Switzerland cannot be fully waived or transferred. They remain with the creator even after selling the economic rights. This means: even if you assign your master rights to a label, you retain the right to be credited and the right to object to distortions of your work that damage your reputation. A qualified electronic timestamp on the original recording establishes the authenticated original work for purposes of integrity right claims.

What is the difference between composition rights and master rights in music?

Composition rights (also called publishing rights or songwriter rights) protect the underlying musical work, the melody and lyrics. These are typically owned by the songwriter(s) and managed by collecting societies and music publishers. Master rights (also called recording rights) protect the specific sound recording, the way the composition was performed and recorded at a specific session. These are typically owned by the record label or the artist who financed the recording. A single song has both: 'Yesterday' by The Beatles has composition rights (Lennon/McCartney) and master rights (the 1965 recording). In Switzerland: composition rights go to SUISA; performance and master royalties go to SwissPerform. A qualified timestamp on both the written composition and the master recording establishes separate creation dates for both rights layers.

Industry Solutions

签约之前先给音乐加封：制作人如何保护自己的作品库

Dani Wattenhofer · Co-Founder & Innovation

2026年4月21日 7 分钟阅读最后更新 2026年9月8日

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In short

在任何合同签署之前，节拍、副歌和歌词早就通过 WhatsApp 传开了。没有客观的时间戳，版权归属的纠纷几乎无法避免。

2024年8月，一位苏黎世音乐制作人在一次演出后，通过WeTransfer向柏林一家唱片公司的A&R分享了一首未发布的纯音乐作品。唱片公司拒绝与他签约。四个月后，这位制作人在一位签约艺人的首支单曲中听到了与其未发布曲目高度相似的旋律结构。唱片公司称该艺人独立创作了这段旋律。制作人拥有WeTransfer链接记录和一个Dropbox文件夹。他的律师解释说，文件系统日期可以被篡改，WeTransfer元数据不具备法庭证明效力，若无合格时间戳，制作人便没有任何法律依据。这场纠纷从未进入法庭，因为没有证据，就没有可以提起诉讼的基础。

音乐行业历来依赖信任：握手、承诺和人际关系。这一模式行之有效，直到某天它不再奏效。一旦关系破裂，往往是在法庭上破裂，有律师介入，耗费你数年的生活和事业。音乐知识产权纠纷最常见的起因并非盗窃，而是模糊性。两个人在录音棚里合作，WhatsApp上的语音消息来回传，一份历经数月演变的协作文档，却没有客观记录谁在何时贡献了什么。在分享之前、签约之前、合作之前创建的加密时间戳，能够永久消除这种模糊性。

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