It is not every day that one encounters a work about the law for which the author provides an accompanying playlist. For some readers, the playlist may be reason enough to add Copyright in the Music Industry: A Practical Guide to Exploiting and Enforcing Rights, to their collection. Legal professionals should note that this is not a title aimed at attorneys or legal scholars, or even at organizational entertainment industry clients like record companies or rights organizations. This work is one written for individual artists, particularly musicians, seeking to gain a basic understanding of intellectual property laws impacting their work.

Though legal professionals may find the work to be too general for their needs, and the author's take on copyright law at times oversimplified, lay readers will appreciate Bosher's jargon-free language and her ability to describe the law in the context of their creative process. Initial chapters discuss rationales for intellectual property protection, before describing what copyright law does—and does not—protect, what constitutes infringement, how to handle infringement claims, and commonly available remedies for infringement. Bosher moves, in certain chapters, beyond discussing the law itself, to describing common relationships amongst rightsholders in the music industry, and the various contracts and agreements that artists may be asked to, or wish to, conclude at all stages of their work. Bosher is careful to disclaim she is offering artists legal advice, and opts to describe legal concepts in general terms, urging her audience to seek legal counsel when they encounter the risks she highlights. Recognizing, too, that musicians may not know where to seek referrals for attorneys with relevant expertise, Bosher suggests several organizations that can direct them to competent counsel. She wisely emphasizes that in order to anticipate and forestall future disputes, artists should seek legal advice early in the creative process. She notes that although disputes settled in court receive significant attention, litigation is expensive and, as such, parties should consider resolving disputes via negotiation.

In describing significant legal concepts, Bosher makes good use of the ample case law generated by copyright disputes. She uses case law that provides both interesting facts and instructive lessons, to engage her audience. Though musical compositions, lyrics, and sound recordings are the focus of the work, Bosher also addresses intellectual property rights that attach to related items such as album art and promotional merchandising goods. Modern audiences will appreciate Bosher's frank discussion of social media and other online content outlets, and the risks associated with posting content on applications such as TikTok or web platforms such as YouTube. In her conclusion, Bosher discusses evolving issues surrounding artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain technologies in the context of intellectual property, emphasizing there is currently no consensus surrounding concerns such as whether songs created by AI tools are protected by copyright, and that readers should remain alert to emerging legal norms.

Readers seeking a book with broad comparative focus should note that Bosher focuses to a significant degree on UK domestic law and also covers United States and European Union law. References to the law of other jurisdictions are limited to instances in which the laws of other nations contrast with those in the UK or US, or with EU law. Early in the book Bosher discusses key international treaties governing copyright law, and their impact on certain domestic laws, but does not re-print either those treaties or the domestic laws she describes as appendices within the book, leaving interested readers to locate these on their own.

Because Bosher adopts a casual tone, certain legal readers may find her prose to be, at times, difficult to follow. Bosher relies heavily on the passive voice, and her style, in addressing a non-legal audience, lacks the conciseness and specificity expected in typical legal writing. For example, she discusses litigation and resulting judicial opinions without providing the jurisdiction and/or without offering sufficient citation information such that the reader could quickly locate the docket or opinion. She occasionally utilizes acronyms not recently defined in the text leaving readers to browse the book or independently search for the term to refresh their recollection as to its meaning. Future editions could address this tension between clarity and brevity by expanding the key term list provided at the front of the text. Likewise, an appendix providing the text of major treaties and domestic statutes would be a useful readers’ aid, as would a list of cited legal authorities.

In sum, Copyright in the Music Industry is an approachable work offering a basic primer on copyright law for musicians and other artists working in the music industry, and one that is particularly useful for those working or distributing their work in the UK and the US. The title would make an excellent addition to a library serving music and arts students, or appropriate assigned reading in courses discussing the practicalities of professional artistry.