The sound recording and copyright lines

Every release carries two short ownership statements. Stores print them on the release page, usually at the bottom in small type: a sound recording line marked with the phonogram symbol (℗) and a copyright line marked with the copyright symbol (©).

Each one is a year and a name. That is all they are. The name is whoever owns the thing the line refers to, which for self-released music is you.

What each line covers

A store page ends up reading something like ℗ 2026 Ada Mensah and © 2026 Ada Mensah.

Setting them yourself

The fields sit under Rights lines on step 1 of the release form, next to the release title and artwork.

1. Pick a year for the sound recording line, or leave it on Release year and Run derives it.
2. Type the owner name, or leave it blank to use your main artist names.
3. Do the same for the copyright line. The two are set independently, so they can name different owners and different years.

Any year from 1900 up to next year is accepted, because a release scheduled for January still needs next year’s line. The name field takes up to 255 characters. Do not type the symbol or the year into the name: the form keeps them separate and puts the line together for you.

What Run fills in if you leave them blank

Blank is a real answer, not an omission, and it is the right answer for most self-released music. Run fills a blank field at delivery:

• The year becomes the release year. If the release carries an original release date (imported drafts do), that year is used instead, which is what a re-release wants.
• The name becomes your main artist names, in the order you credited them, separated by commas.

Fill them in yourself when the honest answer is something else:

• The recording is owned by a company rather than by you personally.
• You licensed the master from someone else.
• The recording was first published years ago and you are re-releasing it.
• The artwork belongs to a different party from the recording, so the two lines differ.

Each field is independent, so setting the recording owner while leaving the year blank works exactly as you would expect.

Overriding one track

A track can carry its own lines. On the track, open Customize ℗/© rights lines for this track and fill in only what differs. Anything you leave blank on the track inherits the release line, field by field.

The usual reason is a compilation or a release that mixes new material with a licensed or older recording: track 5 has a different owner or a different first-publication year from everything else. If your release is one owner throughout, leave every track alone.

They credit you, not the label name

These lines are separate from the label name on the release, and it is worth being clear about the difference:

• The label is the record label name the stores print on your release. Unless your account holds its own label, releases ship under the Run label. See Your own label and Plans.
• The rights lines say who owns the recording and the release. They are yours to set, and they keep ownership attribution with you whichever label name the release ships under.

So a release can show Run as the label and still print your name, or your company’s name, on both rights lines. Nothing about shipping under the house label moves ownership.

Getting them right

• Name the owner, not the performer, when they differ. If your recordings are owned by a company you control, the company belongs in the line.
• Keep the name consistent across your catalog. One release spelled differently reads as a different owner.
• Use the year the recording was first published, not the year you uploaded it. For anything previously released, that is the original year.
• The lines are metadata like everything else on the release, so they can only be changed while it is a draft. See Editing and resubmitting.