Do you put the copyright year in your lyrics?

[petej9]

When you send your lyric sheet in, do you place your copyright year at the end. Ofcourse, you should put the copyright sign on your lyric sheet.
What if you have a good match for a request but your lyrics were written 5 or 10 years ago. Do you think some song screeners would reject it for not being current?
It seems to me that good songs that make no reference to any particular time frame should still be OK.
I'm new at TAXI and I noticed some requests ask for current lyrics.

[mojobone]

"Current" as applied to lyrics, really just means 'fresh', or 'comparable to modern' lyrics; I should think that if you wrote something suitable ten years ago, the fact that it was ahead of its time will be no barrier. And I put copyright notices and contact info on literally everything that gets submitted, including in the metadata.

[Casey H]

You certainly can't influence a screener or A&R person that a song is more current sounding than it really is by virtue of a copyright date. So, if a song is dated, putting a (C) 2012 on the lyric sheet isn't going to help. (You didn't really ask THAT question)

In the other direction, there really isn't any value in showing a copyright date, especially if it's not a current one. On the very small chance, that it could negatively influence someone, it's better to leave it out. I don't put dates on mine. As a matter of fact, I don't even always have a (c) header in my Taxi lyrics at all. Stealing is so extremely rare-- not something to worry about.

But... The bottom line is always the eyes and ears on the song and lyrics themselves.

Casey

[matto]

I've heard a number of publishers say over the years that '(c) 2012 John Doe' or '(c) John Doe' is an indication that they are dealing with an amateur.
What they are expecting to see from a pro is 'John Doe (ASCAP)' or 'John Doe (BMI)' [or any other PRO]; in other words no '(c)' at all since that is obvious, and the 'ASCAP' or 'BMI' shows that the writer is at least professional enough to have joined a PRO...

And Casey is absolutely correct that putting today's date on a dated lyric is not going to make that lyric sound contemporary...

[Casey H]

I've heard a number of publishers say over the years that '(c) 2012 John Doe' or '(c) John Doe' is an indication that they are dealing with an amateur.
What they are expecting to see from a pro is 'John Doe (ASCAP)' or 'John Doe (BMI)' [or any other PRO]; in other words no '(c)' at all since that is obvious, and the 'ASCAP' or 'BMI' shows that the writer is at least professional enough to have joined a PRO...

I've read that too. I've been taking the (c) headers off my lyrics as I go through them. Between it possibly looking amateurish and adding no real value (Isn't it like putting "Do Not Steal" on your car to ward off car thieves? ), not needed.

Casey

[petej9]

Thank you all for your replies. That was an eye opener.
I'll be adding the ASCAP identifier to all my lyrics. (I never thought of that!).
I appreciate your insights to the "comtemporary lyric" question.
That's kind of how I was thinking of it also. If it sounds dated, it's dated, regardless of the year on the sheet.

[FMstereo]

Hi there

This is an interesting discussion. I have a legal background, so I always like to dot the "i"s and cross the "t"s in the proper legal fashion. However, I've also heard the comment about looking amateurish if you use the copyright symbol. Then again, in Jason Blume's book, This Business of Songwriting, his sample lyric sheet has "Jason Blume (BMI) (c) 2006" typed at the bottom. Don't think anyone's going to call him an amateur!!

The issue of the date of copyright is a separate one; I know Jason has said that sometimes he leaves off the date if the song was written a few years ago so that it doesn't look like he's pitching something that's too old.

Cheers