Important copyright info for all songwriters
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RE: Important copyright info for all songwriters - 1/15/2007 7:46:20 PM
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Country_guitar8
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Thanks for the information.
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From "The Three Greatest Prayers" by Saint Thomas Aquinas
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RE: Important copyright info for all songwriters - 7/16/2007 2:20:57 PM
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guntemar
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Joined: 2/23/2004
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Larry or Other Mods: Don't know if you want to pin this to the top of Song Writing Forum or not. This seems to come up every few months.
Here is the article from Acoustic Guitar Magazine. I did not write this article and I will not take credit for it. I am just passing along some very useful information to other members of this forum.
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So you’ve got a spanking new original song—congratulations! Enjoy the buzz of creation—and, before you share it with the world, make sure it’s protected by copyright, so you receive the credit, adulation, and compensation you deserve.
The good news is, if you have recorded or notated your finished song in a format from which someone else could reproduce it, then your song is already copyrighted. (In US copyright-ese, your work is protected once it is “fixed” in a “tangible medium” that is “sufficiently permanent or stable to permit it to be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated for a period of more than transitory duration.”) No paperwork required: Once your song is fixed, whether on a CD or a lead sheet with the music and lyrics written out, it’s copyrighted.
So why bother shelling out a fee to register your song with the US Copyright Office? Basically, because registering the copyright bolsters your legal rights and provides evidence of your ownership in the public record, both of which could be important if there ever were a dispute over the song. In fact, you can’t even file an infringement suit in court unless the work in question has been registered. So there are plenty of good reasons to register a copyright, especially if you’re publishing the song (i.e., making it available to the public in some form). Registering a song close to its publication date gives you some legal advantages, but even if you wrote a song 15 years ago and never registered a copyright, you can still do so now.
How to Register Your Copyright
Copyright registration is a relatively simple process, especially in the Internet age. First, point your browser to www.copyright.gov, where you can download forms and get answers to many questions; the FAQ pages are very useful and actually written in comprehensible English.
For music, there are two basic types of copyrights with separate registration forms: PA, for performing arts, which covers the composition itself, and SR, which is for a sound recording. The distinction is critical: You can register a PA copyright for your original song, or for your original arrangement/adaptation of words and music in the public domain (e.g., a musical setting of a Shakespeare sonnet, or “Amazing Grace” arranged for fingerstyle guitar and theremin). You cannot, alas, file PA copyrights for your ultracool arrangements of Beatles songs (that is, unless you get permission of the copyright owner—and good luck with that!). But if you make a CD called J.D. Flattop Sings the Beatles, you can register an SR copyright covering the recording itself.
Let’s assume you’re filing a PA copyright to protect your composition. To register your song, you need to send three things to the copyright crew at the Library of Congress:
• a completed Form PA (if the material is all new and you’re the sole author, you may be able to use the Short Form PA);
• one or two complete copies of the work (sheet music, cassette, CD, etc.—read the deposit requirements carefully);
• a $45 fee (up from $30, as of July 1).
You can save some money by registering a group of unpublished songs as a collective work, as long as the authorship is the same for all of them. It is possible, too, to register a PA copyright and an SR copyright on one form (SR) if the copyright ownership is exactly the same for both; that would be the case if, for instance, you were releasing a CD of all-new guitar instrumentals that you wrote and are registering for the first time.
When you’re ready to send your registration materials, pack ’em well: The Copyright Office recommends sending everything in a box rather than an envelope, and putting CDs in regular-size, rather than slim, jewel boxes, to raise the odds that your materials survive the post–9/11 security screening process.
Once your package is received and found to be complete, the Copyright Office will send you a certificate of registration. It might take four months or longer to arrive, so what to do in the meantime? Play that song for others—and get started on your next opus.
Copyrighting Resources
U.S. Copyright Office
www.copyright.gov
Includes copyright basics, FAQ, and forms.
PD Info
www.pdinfo.com
Reference site for identifying music in the public domain.
Songfile
www.songfile.com
Copyright and licensing information on millions of published songs.
BMI Songwriter/Composer/Publisher Resources
www.bmi.com/songwriter/resources
Includes a page on songwriters and copyright.
< Message edited by guntemar -- 7/16/2007 2:26:01 PM >
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RE: Important copyright info for all songwriters - 7/16/2007 3:28:59 PM
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lmofle
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From: Schertz, TX
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Good call - pinned it to the top...
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RE: Important copyright info for all songwriters - 5/28/2008 10:21:13 PM
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Huch776
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Joined: 4/19/2007
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By the way, another way of copywriting [I never read the article, couldn't let me in] is by mailing a copy of it to yourself. But don't open the letter, if you bring it up in court, with the timestamp on it, it proves you made it first, and its verifyed through a government system.
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RE: Important copyright info for all songwriters - 5/28/2008 10:34:32 PM
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angiadelle
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That is NOT foolproof Huch... that only proves posession at a certain date. A court does not have to award ownership in that situation... According to the copyright office, its technically against the law for a court to award ownership in that situation, as all it proves is possession. They have a nice big article on that at the copyright.gov site.
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RE: Important copyright info for all songwriters - 5/28/2008 11:00:10 PM
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dawsonlegate
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Angi is correct, it has held up before, but it does not always hold up, as Red Steagall Said "I put it in an envelope and mailed it back to myself, but somebody stole my song"
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RE: Important copyright info for all songwriters - 8/1/2008 11:10:48 AM
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kp110477
Posts: 59
Joined: 10/2/2002
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Ok, I know this is an old topic... but... I have reservations about posting my songs on the 'orinal mp3' page of this website... who's to say someone won't use your song in some other state at their local gigs, hit it big, then all of a sudden they're making tons of money on your song. Does putting it on this website protect you from that, or do you need to have it officially copyrighted by a governing authority before even posting it on here.
I just don't understand the details...
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RE: Important copyright info for all songwriters - 8/1/2008 2:27:17 PM
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guntemar
Posts: 2224
Joined: 2/23/2004
From: NW New Jersey
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If you read the article in post #4, it will answer your questions. It needs to be captured in some sort of "tangible medium" (i.e. CD, sheet music, something you can hold in your hands). The internet is not considered a tangible medium. I would suggest recording it to a cd, printing out the lyrics and sheet music/chord progression/tab and submitting it to the copyright office. Once you've recorded it and submitted it, you are protected.
Hope this answers it for you. If not check out http://copyright.gov/
_____________________________
http://www.myspace.com/shamrockguitar
http://sites.google.com/site/shamrockguitars/Home
Shamrock Guitars
Custom Lutherie
YOUR guitar, the way YOU want it
Some days it's not worth chewing through the restraints!
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RE: Important copyright info for all songwriters - 8/1/2008 5:52:17 PM
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lmofle
Posts: 19088
Joined: 3/23/2002
From: Schertz, TX
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The short answer is that if it is not registered at the LoC (Library Of Congress), it's not protescted. Personally, I would use the internet to show when I uploaded the song (available thru server logs) at the various places, thereby setting a time frame of when I created the work...
_____________________________
Try the newest Social Networking site available!! Yuwie.com - built for you in mind!!!
http://www.yuwie.com/yuwie.asp?r=74
Come & Check out songs I've written!
http://www.myspace.com/larrymofle
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