Participation in the production of a song does not, without more, confer Co-authorship or Co-ownership: lessons from Michael Oluwole v. Osinachi Joseph Egbu (Sinach)
Introduction
Collaboration is an integral feature of modern music production. A commercially successful song may involve songwriters, composers, producers, arrangers, sound
engineers, session musicians and other contributors, each performing different functions in bringing a musical project to completion. The fact that several persons participate in the production of a recording, however, does not necessarily mean that they are all authors or owners of the underlying musical work.
The distinction between the musical work itself and the sound recording embodying that work is therefore critical in determining the nature and extent of a contributor’s copyright interest.
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