Who Owns What — Spelled Out

The Two Copyrights

Every track has two distinct copyrights. Our licenses make clear which rights move to you and which stay with CSL.

• Composition (publishing): the melody, harmony, structure, and lyrics — the "song" itself.
• Master (sound recording): the specific recording you hear — the performance, mix, and master.

A traditional sync license grants the right to use both, but ownership stays with the publisher and label. A work-for-hire transfers ownership of both to you. We use whichever model fits the project.

Rights by License Tier

This is what each tier on our pricing page actually grants:

Tier	Composition	Master	Exclusivity	Credit
Catalog	License to use	License to use	Non-exclusive	Optional
Custom	License to use	License to use	Non-exclusive (CSL retains catalog rights)	Optional
Premium	License + first-position sync	License + first-position sync	Exclusive in your media segment	Negotiable
Work-for-Hire	Full transfer to client	Full transfer to client	Total exclusivity	Per agreement
Exclusive Buy-Out	Full transfer to client	Full transfer to client	Total exclusivity worldwide	Per agreement

What's Included in Every Delivery

• Master files — WAV 24-bit/48kHz and MP3 320 kbps
• Stems (Premium and above) — drums, bass, melodic, FX
• License document — signed PDF specifying scope, term, territory, exclusivity
• Authorship statement — production-methodology disclosure suitable for E&O underwriting and PRO registration
• Project files (Premium and above on request) — for future remixes

Copyright Office Registration

Premium and Work-for-Hire deliverables are registered with the U.S. Copyright Office. We comply with the Office's Generative AI Registration Guidance ("GRUW process"), disclosing AI-assisted material and identifying the human-authored elements (lyrics, performance, arrangement, mix, master, editorial selection).

Other catalog and custom deliverables can include registration when it is part of the written scope or quoted as an add-on before delivery.

AI & Authorship Disclosure

Every CSL track involves 100% human authorship of lyrics, vocal performance, arrangement, mix, master, and editorial selection, with AI-assisted composition tools (notably Suno on a paid Premier-tier subscription with full commercial rights) used as part of the production workflow on raw musical material.

Our full disclosure statement is incorporated by reference into every CSL license. Read it on the Licensing page.

Pre-Formation IP

All pre-formation works created by founder Avery Jones (FreshWater) prior to the formation of CSL LLC on March 30, 2026 have been fully assigned to the Company under the Founder IP Assignment Agreement. CSL holds clean, exclusive title in those works for all commercial purposes.

What You Cannot Do With Our Work

• Use it to train machine-learning models without an express ML-training license
• Resell or sublicense it outside the scope of your license
• Register it with a PRO under your name unless your license expressly permits
• Use it in ways that would defame or violate the rights of any individual