Question about copyright ...

[PeterD]

Hey all!

Though I have (and still do) copyright instrumentals for TV/Film pitching ... (not sure why I even bother), I was wondering about lyrics.

Would it make most sense to copyright songs with lyrics that will be pitched to artists? Is the song and the lyric one in the same, or are they 2 separate entities?

What I'm asking is, should lyrics (basically ideas) be protected before they even have music ready, or should it wait until they are a finished song?

How do YOU go about it?

Thanks for your comments!

[shorttonpro]

Hi Peter,

Music (melody, chords) + lyrics constitute a song for copyright purposes, though it is possible to copyright lyrics only.

I personally would not copyright lyrics only for a few reasons:
-How will anyone else be exposed to these lyrics prior to them being set to music? Seems unlikely they would be 'stolen'.
-When they are set to music, it is likely you may need to edit the lyric to fit said music.
-Seems like an extra step and waste of money if you're going to end up copyrighting the entire song once it is complete.

That's my thinking on the topic anyway.

[PeterD]

Thanks Scott!

That makes sense. As long as they're not being shared with the world prior to being finished and protected, why bother, right?

[TheElement]

Hi Peter,

We generally write so much it would be too time consuming and costly to register copyright. If your song got picked up by an artist with a label. I think the label would make sure the song is registered with the copyright office. So no real need to register. Also I think a lot of the time the artist might make some small changes to the lyrics and also the music might be edited slightly.

[PeterD]

Totally, Gavin!

I found out after posting that the question was more about copyrighting free-standing poetry and not necessarily music with lyrics.