Musical Works and Sound Recordings have two SEPARATE copyrights. The Copyright Act of 1976 established a specific category for sound recordings which protects works created in 1972 and onward. The Copyright Term Extension Act Extended the copyright protection for works to life + 70. It is quite true that pre-1972 sound recordings have no federal copyright protection, but they are still well protected under state law. Virtually every sound recording in the USA is copyright protected at least until the year 2067.
