It is not generally know, even by musicians that there are two copyrights that exist for a recording.
The first copyright is for the song. This copyright is owned by the writer and usually shared with the song publisher as a 50/50 split.
The second copyright is for the sound recording. This copyright is owned by the record company.
There have been a number of cases where musicians have been involved in high profile legal cases involving their record companies.
The first case that comes to mind is George Michael
The problem, as Michael saw it was this :
Although he had earned his record company far more money than they had advanced him to make his record the copyright in the sound recording was still owned by his record company, Sony Records.
Michael was locked in a legal battle with Sony Records for three years. The case began in 1992. In a documentary Michael spoke about how much he regretted suing the record label which put his career on hold and cost him millions.