Copyright...

[KatsuCadence]

How important is it to copyright my material? And do I need to copyright the lyrics separately from the recordings? Do I need to notate the arrangement and copyright that?

I've read some stuff on the US Copyright website and while I know I can copyright just written lyrics, notated music and recordings individually, but what I want to is do I need to do all? Just one? How do I cover all bases?

[Reconsiderate]

[thewolf13]

it cost $30.00 to copyright your entire CD...go online to:
www.copyright.gov
get the forms SR and SR CON (they send them)...you can list each song from the CD on the sepearte form (SR CON) that they provide...it's simple...and you can use a personal check!!!
it takes a long time for US Copyright Office to respond (about 6 months), but I think it's well worth the wait to go this route...the fees are going up to $45.00 soon...

[KatsuCadence]

[thewolf13]

no. it takes about 6 months after you send the forms, check and CD...

[charliedanders]

ya know...when I was a kid, just writing my first songs, this was a big deal for me. I lived in a small Northwest town. I spent quite a bit of time trying to chase down some information on how to copyright my songs...called a bunch of lawyers, etc. I think people must have laughed. Nobody knew anything about how to go about getting a copyright...well, nobody that I talked with could give me any kind of info. They just played with me and must have been thinking; "stupid kid", etc. Many of them were caught off guard and didn't know what to say...they just passed the phone to the next person, so they could have a good laugh too I guess. It was years before I really found the answers I was looking for. Well, that was a thousand years ago. Good for looking back and having a laugh.

[Reconsiderate]

[djsmooth4lyfe]

copyrighting should be the first thing to think about if u wanna release ur music to the public

[Alternatewords]

You own the copyright to anything you produce by default, given that it does not infringe on someone else's copyright (i.e. using uncleared samples). This is also referred to as intellectual property. If you scribble something on a napkin in a restaurant it becomes your intellectual property right there and nobody can use it without your permission. So far, so good. The problem is to actually proof your right in court in case somebody uses your work unauthorized. The US Library Of Congress offers a legal record of your registration with them. They do not provide you your copyright, you already have that by default. They do however provide said legally valid record.

There is another option that is legally accepted in court as well (given you have the funds and endurance to go through court in case of violation): Put a copy of your CD together with a signed and dated sheet of paper into a sealed envelope. Address it to yourself, go to the post office and send it registered mail. It must be registered mail (or your countries equivalent) because this will put an official seal on your package. Once you receive your own mail deposit it into a safe box (unopened of course), ideally at you local bank. Come the day your need to provide legal ownership simply present the sealed envelope to the judge.

Further details here: http://www.record-producer.com/learn.cfm?a=3115

The chances that somebody steals an entire track of yours by claiming it their own are slim (unless you have some known enemies). The chances that an enthusiastic fan samples a part of your track and uses it in his tune are much higher. A cease and desist order will usually put a stop to that.

Thorsten

[GregK]

Well, I am glad to see that the old "registered mail" technique is still working- that's what I've been using all this time! I've crammed a cd, a lyrics page and I would (sometimes) get it all notarized (costs about 5 bucks-depends on if you know the notary!) jam it into the envelope and send it to myself! -I DO THIS EVEN WITH DEMO STUFF, THOUGHTS AND SCRIBBLED LYRICS -it costs next to NOTHING to make a photocopy of your lyrics and mail is cheap and hassle-free but you SAVE YOUR BUTT BIG TIME!

[BluesBro]

I recorded a whole pile of songs on video, sealed an envelope and had it put in safe deposit at the local bank. These days I register all my songs with APRA which is the Australasian Performing Rights Association which collects royalties etc.

Generally it probabl doesn't matter and I am begging for artists to sing and perform my work. My attitude is that I want people to hear my music and the more the better, but I do want them to acknowledge that it is mine. Sometimes I think to myself, I can always write more and I will. But what if that one song I didn't worry about suddenly became a big hit for someone and they claimed it as their own. That would suck big time!

[Alternatewords]

For everyone interested in delving a bit deeper into copyright and the associated laws and regulations in various countries have a look at this article on Wikipidia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright. It is quite extensive and illustrates well the struggle of protecting ones rights associated with an original piece of work versus public fair use.

I certainly agree with BluesBro's concern. What if I allow another artist to perform my music and it becomes a viable commercial success for them? Rising fame and inherit dishonesty combined with growing greed have been the reason for many legal battles. The problem remains not in obtaining a copyright but in proving it. In regards to that the question is how much do I encourage public performance of my work by other artists (bands, singer, DJs etc.) ? Where are my priorities concerning getting my music out to the masses versus protecting my rights and connected commercial success? And how much legal paperwork do I want and reasonable should put behind any agreements? In addition I can see too that it would most likely be far easier to take another independent artist to court upon infringement then a major or even 2nd and 3rd tier act.

It is always advisable to be safe than sorry and take advantage of your countries opportunities to legally protect your rights. In addition, and conjunction with another post of mine regarding selling CDs without live performance, it often comes down again to who you know. Every artist should reasonable seek professional relationships that benefit him or her (keeping an eye on ones integrity and honesty, avoiding to let success get the better of us and become the very people we currently loath).

And I think this is where the strength of an artist community like MusicForte comes into play. We can all help and support each other through potential hurdles and tough times.

I'd like to add one more point regarding copyright protection in Germany. The article on Wikipedia did not mention an institution called GEMA http://www.gema.de/engl/aboutus/. Similar to ASCAP or BMI in the US the GEMA pays out royalties to all registered artists. The interesting difference is that all companies in Germany that manufacture any kind of copying equipment (CD burners, CD-Rs, DVD-Rs, etc.) have to pay a certain fee to the GEMA (this fee is of course added to the sales price). This has the effect that personal copies that an individual may make of any musical work (in this case physical CDs) yields royalties. These royalties are then distributed equally to the the GEMA members. The GEMA is also contemplating charging a fee for hard drives (currently exempt) due to the increase in music downloads.

[christineanderson]

Importance of Copyrights

The minute you create intellectual property, you own the copyright automatically, but to protect yourself against crooks and song sharks (and to keep lining the pockets of the American beaurocracy), you should pay the $30 to file your copyright with the US Copyright Office. If you're a lyricist and you're broke, you can probably scrounge up 39 cents to mail your lyrics to yourself. Just be sure to NEVER OPEN THEM. The post mark on the envelope will show that you had written that material on or before the date of the post mark, so if someone steals your lyrics, you'll have evidence to prove they're yours in court. The same goes for rough demos. If you can tape yourself playing your songs, and send yourself the tape, you've got poor man's protection.

A true story:

Several years ago, I was living in Santa Monica and I met this so-called producer named Bachman Tom. He had some old 80s gear in his bedroom and he wanted to record me. I went to his house and played a few songs. They were some of the earliest piano-vocal songs I'd ever written - Show Me The Way, Viva L'Amour, and High Class Lovin - composed when I was fourteen and fifteen years old. I played the piano parts, sang the vocals, and Bachman inserted some drum loops and this little wind chime sound. I knew how the songs were supposed to sound in my head, since I'd been playing them since I was fourteen, and I wasn't happy with the results - the songs sounded dorky and incomplete - so I wrote some additional instrumental parts that we programmed in together.

Well, I showed up one day to do some more recording and Bachman had some paperwork. It was copyright paperwork, and Bachman asked me to sign the un-filled-out page; he said it was really complicated, so he would fill it out for me as a favor. I was an idiot, I guess, because I trusted him to safely copyright my songs. Well, I later learned that he filled it out to say that he had written all the music and that I had written the lryics, when in fact I had written everything and he had just recorded me. When I called him on it, furious and threatening to sue him, he said it was "only for the sound recording" not the copyright for the song itself, and that once you work on a song with someone, you automatically are 50/50 partners, and that was the law and how everyone did it in the industry. Of course, I know now that all this was a LIE!!

Fortunately, I have home video footage of me playing those exact same songs when I was in high school, so if it ever comes up, I can prove that they are my songs in court... but still, what a bummer to know that there are people like that out there!

Christine Anderson
www.christineanderson.net

[sivan]

[Kotrof_Wizzard]

Hmm...I was gonna` type somthing, but my Mom called, and I forgot what the forum topic was even about...lol...peace out...Drop The Sun