In no particular order, here are the 14 best resources on music publishing and copyright.

An Introduction to Popular Music Publishing in America

By Leonard Feist

2013 Songwriter’s Market: The Most Trusted Guide to Getting Published

By Roseann Biederman
Contains a list of publishers. It’s an exciting time to be a songwriter, especially if you have an entrepreneurial spirit. Whether you’re a perfoming or nonperforming songwriter, chances are that your primary goals are perfecting your craft and maximizing your work’s visibility.

The Plain and Simple Guide to Music Publishing, 2nd Edition

By Randall D. Wixen
Publishing is one of the most complex and lucrative parts of the music business. Industry expert Randall Wixen covers everything from mechanical, performing and synch rights to sub-publishing, foreign rights, copyright basics, types of publishing deals, advice on representation and more.

Music Publishing: The Real Road to Music Business Success

By Tim Whitsett
Revised and updated in 2001, Whitsett’s guide will empower you to succeed at starting up your own company, climbing the corporate ladder in your current job or adding profits to your current music business activities. Through this one-of-a-kind book you’ll learn how to forecast sales, calculate advances, evaluate copyright purchases, negotiate contracts and licenses, manage personnel and company affairs efficiently and maximize commercial potential plus much more.

Legal Aspects of the Music Industry

By Richard Schulenberg
This comprehensive reference features in-depth discussions of every important music industry contract, all enlivened by personal anecdotes from the author’s wide-ranging experiences. Updated to reflect the rapid pace of change in the music industry, this new edition includes a focus on group agreements, live performances, free music on the Internet, the effect of the Millennium Copyright Act, ancillary rights, and the independent record label.

This Business of Music, 10th Edition (This Business of Music: Definitive Guide to the Music Industry)

By M. William Krasilovsky, Sidney Shemel, John M Gross and Jonathan Feinstein
The bible of the music industry! Now in its tenth edition, This Business of Music has been revised and completely updated to reflect the latest changes in the ever-evolving music business. Every chapter has been revised. An entirely new chapter has been added, asking and answering the question “Are there borders in cyberspace?” The answer is yes, and the book clearly and concisely explains what they are and how to maintain them.

Kohn on Music Licensing

By Al Kohn and Bob Kohn
Whether you are a music publisher or songwriter looking to maximize the value of your music catalog, or a producer, ad agency, or internet music service seeking to clear music rights for products, performances, and other uses, let the authors who have over 70 years of hands-on experience take you through the various music licensing processes, type-by-type and step-by-step.

Music Business Handbook and Career Guide

By David Baskerville
An ASCAP Award Winner. The special Tenth Edition of this powerhouse best-selling text maintains its tradition as the most comprehensive, up-to-date guide to the music industry. The breadth of coverage that this book offers is unlike that of any other resource available. Music business newcomers and professionals alike will find Baskerville’s handbook a valuable resource, whatever their specialty is within the field music.

The Music Business Contract Library – Music Pro Guides Bk+CD

By Greg Forest
Contains CD-Rom with contract forms. Every business arrangement in the music industry comes down to the written agreement between the parties engaged in the project at hand. When you’re co-writing with other songwriters or making publishing agreements, recording agreements with independent record labels, or film sync license agreements for music used in TV, film, the Internet and commercials, what is in writing is what ultimately governs the deal with you and your business.

All You Need to Know About the Music Business: Eighth Edition

By Don Passman
The past two decades have seen file-sharing technology and digital streaming services transform the music business from top to bottom, and the changes keep coming at breakneck speed. How are record labels adapting to the demand for instantly accessible, low-cost music while coping with piracy?

Boorstyn on Copyright

By Neil Boorstyn

Nimmer on copyright: A treatise on the law of literary, musical and artistic property, and the protection of ideas

By Melville & David Nimmer

Copyright Law

By Joyce, Leaffer, Jaszi & Ochoa
The Eighth Edition of Copyright Law is the the first in the field to celebrate the 300th Anniversary of the Statute of Anne. Copyright Law provides a short introduction to each chapter comparing current provisions of U.S. law with relevant aspects of the first Anglo-American copyright act.

Understanding Copyright Law

By Marshall Leaffer
The landscape of copyright law has changed dramatically since the last edition of Understanding Copyright Law in 2005. During the past several years both the Congress and the courts have tried to adapt copyright law to the new, interactive (internet 2.0) digital technologies, such as You-Tube, and Facebook, and to efforts like the Google Book Search Project.