Sound Recordings And Musical Compositions: What's The Difference?

The recent decision of the Seventh Circuit of the US Court of Appeals in Eddie Richardson v Karim Kharbouch highlights a fundamental difference between sound recording copyright and musical composition copyright when assessing infringement.

Background

The plaintiff, who goes by Hotwire the Producer, created an instrumental hip hop beat called "*Hood* Pushin Weight" which he uploaded online. A number of months later, he was listening to the hit song "Ain't Worried About Nothin" by French Montana and thought the beat was indistinguishable to his own.

He therefore registered his beat with the U.S. Copyright Office as a sound recording and subsequently issued a claim against French Montana. However, he did not also register his beat as a musical composition.