To check if a song is copyrighted before you use it, search the U.S. Copyright Office’s public records and the major performing rights organization databases (ASCAP/BMI’s Songview and SESAC) for the composition, then check a sound recording database like SoundExchange if you plan to use the actual recorded audio. Assume the song is protected unless you can confirm it entered the public domain, because copyright attaches the moment a song is written down or recorded, with no registration or notice required.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 17 U.S. Code 102 – Subject Matter of Copyright In General
Every Song Has Two Copyrights, and You May Need to Check Both
A recorded song carries two independent copyrights that usually belong to different parties.2U.S. Copyright Office. Musical Works, Sound Recordings The musical composition is the melody, harmony, and lyrics; it typically belongs to the songwriter or a music publisher. The sound recording is the specific captured performance; it typically belongs to the recording artist, the label, or both.
Which one you need to clear depends on what you’re doing. Recording your own cover of a song touches only the composition. Using the original recorded audio, or sampling any part of it, requires the sound recording as well. Different databases track each type, so one search rarely answers the whole question.
Gather These Details Before You Search
Database searches are only as good as the metadata you feed them. From streaming platforms, liner notes, or file metadata, collect:
- The exact song title, including any subtitle or version tag.
- The songwriter and composer names, which are not necessarily the performers.
- The performer or artist name.
- The publisher name, often shown in fine print on album credits.
- The ISWC (identifies the composition) and ISRC (identifies a specific recording) if you can find them. These codes work like fingerprints for precise lookups.3ASCAP. All About ISWCs and How They Can Help You Get Paid
Separating the songwriter from the performer is the single most important step. Searching for Aretha Franklin when you need the composition rights to “Respect” leads nowhere useful, because Otis Redding wrote the song. Most streaming services show songwriter credits inside the song details.
Is the Song Old Enough to Be in the Public Domain?
For anything written after roughly the 1930s, the answer is almost always no. Songs created on or after January 1, 1978 are protected for the life of the author plus 70 years. Works made for hire, anonymous works, and pseudonymous works run 95 years from publication or 120 years from creation, whichever ends first.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 17 U.S. Code 302 – Duration of Copyright Works Created on or After January 1 1978
As of January 1, 2026, published musical compositions from 1930 and earlier are in the public domain. Sound recordings follow their own timeline under the Music Modernization Act: recordings fixed in 1925 and earlier entered the public domain on January 1, 2026.5Duke University School of Law. Public Domain Day 2026 The cutoff advances by one year every January 1.
A composition being public domain does not release modern recordings of it. You can perform a 1920s jazz standard yourself without clearance, but a 2024 studio recording of that same standard carries its own live sound recording copyright.
Works published between 1926 and 1978 had to follow formalities like copyright notice and renewal to stay protected. Some fell out of copyright because a renewal was missed. Confirming that requires searching Copyright Office records directly.
Search the U.S. Copyright Office Records
The Copyright Office runs the only official federal database of registrations. In 2025 it replaced the older Online Public Catalog with the Copyright Public Records System at publicrecords.copyright.gov, which covers registrations from 1898 to 1945 and from 1978 to the present.6U.S. Copyright Office. Search Copyright Records
Search by song title, songwriter, or registration number. Results show the registration number, filing date, type of work, and current claimant. Work type codes tell you what’s registered: “PA” is performing arts (the composition), “SR” is sound recording. A “PA” hit confirms the composition was registered but says nothing about the recording.
Read a negative result carefully. Registration is required before a copyright owner can sue for infringement,7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 17 USC 504 – Remedies for Infringement Damages and Profits but a song that isn’t registered is still copyrighted from the moment of creation.8U.S. Copyright Office. Copyright in General Absence from the database means no paperwork has been filed, not that the song is free to use.
Search the Performing Rights Organization Databases
Performing rights organizations collect royalties for songwriters and publishers whenever a song is publicly performed, broadcast, or streamed. Their databases are often more useful than the Copyright Office catalog for identifying who currently controls a composition, because they reflect active business relationships rather than one-time registrations.
ASCAP and BMI Through Songview
ASCAP and BMI together represent the vast majority of commercially released U.S. songs. Their shared Songview system displays aggregated ownership data for more than 38 million musical works, including each publisher’s share broken down by PRO.9ASCAP. Songview10ASCAP. ASCAP Repertory11BMI. BMI Songview Search Search by title, songwriter, publisher, performer, or Work ID.
A single song often has several publishers, each controlling a percentage of the composition. Search results list publisher names with their ownership percentages, telling you exactly who to contact if you need a license.
SESAC
SESAC keeps a separate repertory search at sesac.com/repertory, where you can look up songs by title, artist, publisher, or writer.12SESAC. Repertory Results show the song title, SESAC’s total represented share, and the affiliated writers and publishers. If a song doesn’t appear in ASCAP or BMI results, check SESAC before concluding the composition isn’t registered anywhere.
The MLC for Compositions Used in Recordings
If your plan involves recording and distributing your own version, the Mechanical Licensing Collective runs a free Public Work Search at portal.themlc.com/search where you can look up composition ownership by title, writer, or publisher.13The Mechanical Licensing Collective. Public Work Search The MLC administers the blanket mechanical license used by streaming services, so its database is a good cross-check on who currently controls the composition.
Check Sound Recording Ownership Separately
The databases above primarily track compositions. If you want to use the actual recorded audio, you need to identify who owns the master, which is usually a label or distributor.
SoundExchange, designated by the RIAA as the authoritative source for ISRC data in the United States, maintains a publicly searchable ISRC database updated daily.14SoundExchange. All About ISRCs Searching by ISRC, artist, or track title returns the recording’s metadata, including artist, duration, and release information, which narrows down the label or distributor controlling the master.
For physical releases, Discogs has an advanced search that lets you filter by label, catalog number, or barcode. That’s often the fastest route to the current rights holder for an older recording, because master rights change hands through label acquisitions and catalog sales.
Quick Digital Checks Before You Publish
If you mainly want to know whether specific audio will trigger a copyright claim online, automated tools give you a fast read.
YouTube’s built-in “Checks” feature scans your upload against its Content ID database before you publish. If it finds a match, you see the notice immediately and can change the audio or decide how to proceed. Checks only flags what’s already registered in YouTube’s system, so a clean result is not the same as confirming the song is uncopyrighted.
If a Content ID claim does hit, you can dispute it. The claimant then has 30 days to release the claim, reinstate it, or escalate to a formal removal request. A rejected dispute can be appealed, giving the claimant 7 days to respond. A rejected appeal can lead to removal and a copyright strike.15YouTube Help. Dispute a Content ID Claim
Audio recognition apps like Shazam match audio patterns against databases of commercially released music. If Shazam recognizes the song, it is almost certainly under active copyright. These apps won’t tell you who owns the rights, but they work as a quick screen.
What Happens If You Skip the Check
Getting caught is expensive. Statutory damages run from $750 to $30,000 per work for standard infringement, and a court can raise the award to $150,000 per work if it finds the infringement was willful.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 17 USC 504 – Remedies for Infringement Damages and Profits For registered works, the owner can also recover attorney’s fees, which often exceed the damages themselves.8U.S. Copyright Office. Copyright in General
On platforms like YouTube, unauthorized use usually results in Content ID claims that redirect the video’s revenue to the rights holder, or removal of the video. Three copyright strikes lead to channel termination. Off-platform, the typical sequence starts with a cease-and-desist letter and can proceed to a federal lawsuit if the work is registered. Running the searches above takes about thirty minutes.