Rights & Ownership

Original ownership

Every lyric listed on VerseTrade is the original work of the writer, who owns it fully until a sale completes. Ownership is verified before a listing goes live, so buyers can trust what they're purchasing.

Licence tiers

• Non-Exclusive - you license the right to use the lyric while the writer keeps ownership and may license it to others. Best for demos, covers and smaller projects.
• Exclusive- you gain exclusive usage rights; the writer cannot license the same lyric to anyone else. Ownership stays with the writer - you hold sole use, not the copyright. Best for a signature song that's yours alone.
• Full Copyright Transfer - complete ownership of the copyright passes to you, recorded by a signed deed. You become the legal owner: reproduce, adapt, translate, register it in your name, sublicense, resell, and exploit it exclusively and permanently. The difference from an Exclusive licence is ownership and control, not capturing the writer's royalties (see below) - with Exclusive you only hold usage rights while the writer stays the owner.

Statutory royalties (Indian law)

Under the Copyright Act, 1957 (as amended in 2012, Sections 18-19), once a lyric is recorded its author retains a non-waivable statutory right to an equal share of certain downstream royalties - for example streaming, radio and public performance - collected through a copyright society. This right applies to every tier, including Full Copyright, and any contract clause purporting to waive it is void. In other words, buying the copyright makes you the owner and gives you control of the work, but it does not strip the writer of this legally protected royalty share.

Moral rights & credit

Even after a transfer, writers may retain moral rights such as the right to be credited as the original author, to the extent provided by applicable law. Specific credit terms are set out in each deal.

Verification

We verify a writer's ownership before listing and record each transfer with a deed of transfer. This gives buyers a clear chain of ownership for every lyric they license.

Disputes

If a question of ownership or rights arises, VerseTrade reviews the listing history, the signed deed and the escrow record before resolving it. Funds remain protected in escrow throughout.