COPY WRITE / Information needed

[hummingbird]

Poor Man's Copyright is not considered legal in the USA & US songwriters are kidding themselves if they feel it protects their work. I believe it is considered okay in the UK. To me it's a waste of postage. Bundle up a CD with all your songs on it and copyright them as a collection with the US Library of Congress for one $45 fee (or use the on-line registration). I do that, and I live in Canada. In my opinion, a certified registation of copyright from the US Library of Congress would be considered legal proof of registration with any court. If you don't register your work, and the person who steals it, does register it, you case will be extremely difficult to prove.My strong opinion is, if you consider your work valuable, and you have copyright concerns... then register your work. Period.

[jay10music]

OK GUY'S....Great responds.....man.....Truth is I have done some copy writes on line for about (4) of my songs in the beginning of taxi....Paid the forty dollars and when I started to do these instros I said this is redickulous....who is gonna steel this junk...So I started poor man cause somebody told me that he never had a song stolen in (12) years..But the part I'm concerned with , is when the say in the listing about u owning the copy write.I f some one ever contacts me about a forwarded song and wants to do something with it,I better have sent it in..Never new about bundleing up all the CD'S and calling them like Volume (1) and sending them in with just $35.00 for all..I thought when I read the rules u couldn't do that...Guess I didn't read it write.So u's say...just bundle the whole bunch of instros and give um $35.00 register and get the reciept from Post Office and I'm all set...Some one reply to this statement please.....Much abliged....jay...

[matthoggard]

I just did the online copyright. It was extremely easy. 35.00 bucks. The collection is the way to go if you wanna save money. There are 2 types pf copyright. The Pa and SR will both protect your material. Research to see the differences.M

[rld]

Aug 29, 2008, 1:45pm, taxi wrote:But the part I'm concerned with , is when the say in the listing about u owning the copy write.I f some one ever contacts me about a forwarded song and wants to do something with it,I better have sent it in..Never new about bundleing up all the CD'S and calling them like Volume (1) and sending them in with just $35.00 for all..I thought when I read the rules u couldn't do that...Guess I didn't read it write.So u's say...just bundle the whole bunch of instros and give um $35.00 register and get the reciept from Post Office and I'm all set...Some one reply to this statement please.....Much abliged....jay...I think you're still confused. You automatically own the copyright to your song when you create it.All you're doing is registering that copyright when you send it in like we are discussing here.When a listing co. ask about "owning the copyright" they aren't asking if you have registered them with the US Gov., they are asking if you own the copyright or have you signed it over to someone else.Follow the link that Zoom gave to the Gov. site and read up on it.

[jay10music]

RDL.....Thank u for clearing that up....Thats what I need to know.....I will go on the site and read up again on my options,then bundle up a collection and register them on line...Thanks every one......jay..........

[boobielive]

roadruner422i don't know if this will help but here it is Claims to copyright in either published or unpublished musical works may be registered in the Copyright Office.Published collections of musical works and all the copyrightable elements of a unit of publication may be registered on a single form with a single fee if all the compositions are owned by the same copyright claimant.Unpublished collections of two or more musical works can be submitted for registration on a single form with a single fee and deposit of one complete copy or phonorecord only if all the conditions are met as specified under the topic heading “Collections of Music” in Circular 50, Copyright Registration for Musical Compositions. Registration of an unpublished collection of compositions extends to each copyrightable selection in the collection, but only the collection title appears in the Copyright Office catalogs and indexes. A separate registration for each musical work results in a separate record of the individual title of work in the catalogs and indexes of the Copyright Office. A separate registration also may simplify identification of the work for purposes of licensing, transfer, permission, and distribution of royalties.See Circular 50, Copyright Registration for Musical Compositions, for details on registration procedures and for further information on the deposit requirements. For further information on registration, see SL-35. For further information on copyright, deposit requirements, and registration procedures, see Circular 1, Copyright Basics.richard

[suzdoyle]

Hey Jay-man;I would add that registering your songs as a collection gives each song official protection/ paper trail should ownership ever come into question -- however, the individual songs won't be searchable by title in the online copyright database.e.g., a copyright search for a collection would show the name of the collection: . . . Groovy songs, collection of 12 tunes by jay man.but would not list each song title in that collection.Copyrighting each single song makes the song searchable in the online database (at least last time I checked). If your goal is protection and affordability, copyrighting collections of tunes makes more sense. If the goal is protection and searchability, than single song copyrighting might be more appropriate. And as noted by some here, stealing songs is pretty rare.There are other ways to create paper trails of your work (not the poor man's copyright). For info, see this article I put together, based on researching the tangled woild of copyright law:http://www.ehow.com/how_4472487_copyrig ... s.htmlalso, I highly recommend:"The Musician's Guide Through the Legal Jungle", and "The Permission Seeker's Guide Through the Legal Jungle", both by Joy Butler.These are two of the clearest books I've read about music copyright law. Written in clear English, for the everyday person!!http://www.sashaycommunications.com/pub ... s.htmHappy copyrighting . . . Suz

[claire]

poor man's copyright does not hold up in court. by US copyright law, once you create your song and put it down on paper/tape/CD/etc., you are the copyright owner. registering in Washington is useful in cases of infringement, as proof that you registered your song with the Library of Congress on a certain date. if you send the copyright forms to the Library of Congress to register, include a postage paid self addressed postcard along with the forms, listing what you sent, and they will send the postcard back to you with the copyright date (the stamped date of receipt is your copyright date, no matter how long it takes for you to get the postcard back). as far as I know, publishers don't bother registering songs until they've been cut. the sad fact of life (at least for me) is that nobody out there is looking to steal our songs...Claire

[heinsite]

well hell j-man, i knew the folks would all jump in and help! no, i've never done the online thing, but i will NOW, and re: which "form" i'm pretty positive it's PA, because it covers everything (as in Permorming Arts..)and you don't have to "send" a million cds, go the collection of songs route, list EACH song, and just burn one cd with each song one afer the other--or two if you run outta room. that's worked for me.claire's idea is SPLENDED, it takes months and months to have the "proof" some may need, but the postcard thing is cool. see? we learn somethin' everyday, and yeah, the chances are slim you may need it, it's just YOUR LUCK or MINE that somebody would steal one of our genius tunes!!! ha!the best,warrenps: in the "collections" i've sent in via snail mail, each song is listed by myself, to identify it, so imho, that is just fine for "proof"--especially with that cool stamp on the form they send back...

[teashea]

Legally, as soon as your finish a song, you own the copyright for the song. The issue is proving that you wrote it. Registering it is one way of proving it - probably the more certain way. However, this proof can also be accomplished by other ways. Posting your songs on the internet is one way, if there is a permanent record of that posting that will be available when you need it. That is the problem. There is no specific limiation of the type of evidence that can be used - as long as it is accepted by the court as admissable. Registering the song at a PRO might also be worth investigating.Tom