2. Musical works vs. sound recordings. Any song has two parts to copyright, the musical work and the sound recording. Whitney Houston's rendition of Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You," from The Bodyguard, is copyrighted by Dolly Parton for the composition and by Whitney Houston for her own recording. Yet under the Copyright Statute, only the owner of the musical work (Parton, in this case), has the exclusive right to perform it publicly (17 U.S.C. § 114 ). So you may hear Whitney's wail on the radio, but only Parton was required to give her permission and only she reaps the rewards. In this respect, the United States has always been different from most European countries, which recognize a right of public performance for the owners of sound recordings, too.