Copyrighting Your Music

[H20nly]

I'm overwhelmed.... anybody had any tracks copyrighted and feel like sharing your experience/recommendations?

[Mint Invader]

Burn It to CD. Mail it to yourself with date on it. Provable in court as well with original files if ever stolen.

[mihai]

Burn It to CD. Mail it to yourself with date on it. Provable in court as well with original files if ever stolen.

i've read and heard about this but apparently it wouldn't hold up in court.

[gjm]

My understanding is that you are the copyright owner of anything you create, by virtue of you creating it. A date with the C in a circle and your contact details are all you need. Job done.

What most people get confused about is how to create a verifiable paper trail that cannot be attacked by gold diggers, and how much money they should have in their budget to fund a defense. Although nothing to do with copyrighting your stuff, it is in fact of utmost importance when dealing with a challenge. If you are worried, contact a lawyer, then get a 2nd opinion, and then act on what you hear.

[Winterpark]

Copyright laws are different between countries.

just keep some evidence of your work... this can just be the 'date made' data of the project file on your computer.

but, if someone has a hit song with your riff/lyrics, and there is no direct evidence that they heard it and then copied it, you really don't have much of a legal leg to stand on.

[creature]

some info here for uk peeps

http://www.prsformusic.com/aboutus/esse ... right.aspx

and here

http://www.prsformusic.com/SiteCollecti ... uction.pdf

[leedsquietman]

In Canada you can pay 50 dollars per track to have it registered by the government (CIPO) online.

It has a better chance of standing up in court, as it will be officially timestamped and a letter of copyright issued, but you still are on your own in court, it's just one extra layer in your favour over a poor man's copyright (i.e. mail to self, don't open).

[H20nly]

Cool. Thanks for the replies. The "poor man's copyright" seems like a good start, but I'm thinking we'll go straight through the government site. There are more than quite a few sites offering to "do it for you" but the government form doesn't look complicated enough to justify paying double or more so someone else can do the work.
Hell, I still have EQ issues to figure out - nobodys paying me double.

[ark]

For definitive information about USA copyright laws, visit http://copyright.gov, which will take you to the Library of Congress copyright information site.

[UKRuss]

I'm overwhelmed.... anybody had any tracks copyrighted and feel like sharing your experience/recommendations?

I have copyrighted one officially here in the UK. It is expensive and not worth it. simple as that really.

[H20nly]

^ I hear ya, but the plan with the track was to give it to at least one forum member for a good listen and possibly another for a good mastering... My "partner" on this endeavour is a bit crazy with handing out CDs, if I'm not careful, but alas after messing with him on and off for the last few years he's finally starting to "get it". He actually is waiting for the song to be... uh... finished. Nice change.
There is a certain very famous guitar player's sister who is waiting for a copy. Who knows where it will end up once placed in her hands so I'd rather have a copyright than hear a clip of our work on a commercial or something in a few years while I'm still broke as hell. It probably won't matter, but better safe than raped.

[ethios4]

you can get licensed with BMI or SESAC for free. Only one or the other though. F**k ASCAP.

[uku]

Registering your copyright with the US Copyright Office is easy. You can do it all electronically from here:

https://eco.copyright.gov/eService_enu/start.swe

You don't need to pay for each song individually. You can copyright a full album as a collected work and make each song a subset of that work. As a result you only need to pay the $35 fee once (or is it $50, I forget).

You don't even need to mail a CD to them - just upload your MP3 tracks directly. Read all of the FAQs and familiarize yourself with the process. It's a gov website so it feels a little clunky sometimes but it does work well. Your copyright registration takes effect on the date it was submitted online.

Then in a few months you get your copyright certificate in the mail.

Good luck!

[H20nly]

@ ethios4 tell me more... ASCAP burn ya or something? Either way that is the next logical progression. Good call.

@ uku thats where my heads at. I appreciate the affirmative nudge. Seems like it worked for you...

@ everyone who replied. Good lookin out! I feel a lot less overwhelmed. Way too many websites for this shit and some of em are questionable at best.

[funky shit]

@h20 - what happened?