Can anyone educate me on copyrighting?

[JosephAOI]

Okay, obviously I know what copyrighting is and infringement and such. But as far as my own music, being unsigned, not known virtually at all, and such, do I need to copyright my music? Does every band? Or is it just common practice to not and just call anyone out who tries to steal any of my songs/riffs/whatever? Where would I copyright my music, and how would I go about it if that's something I do need to get to doing?

 

[wespaul]

Back in the day I used to burn my music to a disc and mail it to myself. Not sure if that's a viable option anymore, though.

 

[Daf57]

This may help - precise and to the point for songwriters

According to U.S. copyright law, songwriters own their songs the moment their songs are completed. It's easy. Just affix a copyright notice - i.e. © John Doe 2012 - and you're in business. (Even if the copyright notice is not consistently stated on recordings or lyric sheets, the writer still receives copyright protection.)

More info - full article
Copyright information for songwriters: How to copyright songs and copyright music - copywrite songs, copywrite music and copywrite lyrics.

 

[abandonist]

I"ve never copyrighted anything - but I'm not the best case study. I'd be jazzed if someone covered or stole from me.

 

[davidengel]

You're best option would be to register your songs as PERFORMING ARTS and SONG RECORDING if you are the owner of both with the US Copyright Offices. It's best to make sure everything is dealt with the US Copyright Offices as it provides ABSOLUTE proof that the song is yours.

Back in the day I used to burn my music to a disc and mail it to myself. Not sure if that's a viable option anymore, though.

This has NEVER been a viable way to copyright your music, ever.

 

[Daf57]

You're best option would be to register your songs as PERFORMING ARTS and SONG RECORDING if you are the owner of both with the US Copyright Offices. It's best to make sure everything is dealt with the US Copyright Offices as it provides ABSOLUTE proof that the song is yours.

Exactly - as cited in my post - one suggested note (also in linked article):

Most experienced songwriters realize there are likely to be revisions or rewrites on any given song, therefor filing a formal copyright registration with the U.S. Office of Copyrights is often postponed until the song is ready for public dissemination, say, a recording or CD release.

 

[tedtan]

As stated above, you own the copyright to a work as soon as you finish it - a writing copyright once you have finished writing a piece and a separate recording copyright once you have finished the recording of it. However, you will need to register that copyright with the government prior to filing an infringement lawsuit against someone. Doing so establishes the date at which you lay claim to the copyright, so it's best (but not necessary) to do this as soon as possible.

 

[Rev2010]

You only need to be able to prove you created the work, so for example if you have the project files and recordings on your hard drive dating back to 2008 and the offending party has no such comparable evidence dating back as far you can likely prove you are the creator. Registered copyrights help simplify the matter and make it easier to prove you are the original creator but they don't guarantee you ownership. Let's put it like this, say you post a song you are working on online, someone downloads it, you then delete the account you hosted the file under. The person that downloaded it can also take that song and register a copyright for it with the copyright office. The copyright office has no way of validating the submitter is indeed the actual creator of the work(s).

You then later find this person releasing the track as theirs, does it mean you are shit out of luck because they registered the track and you did not? Of course not, but you better have all the files, recordings, writings, etc and they better be datable to prove you wrote the song first and that it was stolen.

This is a much bigger issue in acoustic based music genres like rock, metal, etc since reproduction is just so easy. I haven't bothered registering my electronic industrial projects works because I honestly see no need to. Reproduction is just way too difficult. I have all my hard drives, dated files, full projects, backups, etc. In a court of law there is literally no way anyone can prove they are the creator of my works. I use so many different software synths and, in the past, hardware synths they would need to know each one, each patch I used, each effect plugin, each volume tweak, the mixing/mastering, etc. But with something like metal all you need to know are the riffs, drum patterns, and vocals (if you even plan to copy the entire song). It's even easier to use most of the guitar work and just use different takes for the rest of the parts.

So for music such as rock, metal, country, blues, whatever I think it's still smartest to register with the copyright office, just always keep a backup of all your shit to be on the safe side.


Rev.

 

[Nats]

Email it to yourself.

 

[davidengel]

Email it to yourself.

Just as mailing it to yourself, this does not legally copyright your product. The issue with doing this/mailing it to yourself or simply saying "Hey I have these dated files showing I made it on this date" won't hold up in court, the person who stole your song could easily argue that the dated files could easily be altered to show that you have created it first, especially if they registered with the Copyright Offices.

JUST ....ING SEND IT TO THE GODDAMN COPYRIGHT OFFICES

 

[mr_rainmaker]

quote: According to U.S. copyright law, songwriters own their songs the moment their songs are completed. It's easy. Just affix a copyright notice - i.e. © John Doe 2012 - and you're in business. (Even if the copyright notice is not consistently stated on recordings or lyric sheets, the writer still receives copyright protection.)




I`ve noticed this a lot lately,songwriters do this and then copywrite it it later if it takes off
I think this is taking a major major chance,but I`ve been told,as long as you can prove an upload date from you,your protected

I don`t see how???

 

[Jacksonluvr636]

Just to be clear, none of these methods legally copyright your songs except registering with the US Copyright office.

It is only $35 and if you think some douchebag may be stealing your songs I suggest you pay the money.

Mailing a cd, dating a hard drive, noting a peice of paper. None of that is legal copyright.

Yes truthfully the minute an idea is written you own it, however good luck proving that in court.

Whoever registers with us copyright office first owns the materials rights.

All of the above would help you in a legal case but is in no way a legal copyright.

 

[Rev2010]

Whoever registers with us copyright office first owns the materials rights.

Sorry, but that is just plain not true. If you can prove you are the writer of the song and the other party can not they will lose ownership. Yes, you can retort with, "Oh but it's hard to prove" but I don't really think it is especially with the online world one's history is easily trackable. Let's say you posted an earlier rendition two years ago to get mixing comments, you can point to that. You can point to project files, friends that can verify you played it for them, etc. there are a lot of ways to prove you are the writer.

Again, it's certainly far harder with music that is easily replicable like guitar driven music, but still not impossible.

If it were as simple as whoever registers first is owner I think there would be droves of copyright trolls scouring SoundCloud.

Of course, you would have to fight it in a court which would be a pain. But also song theft doesn't really seem to be a profitable business idea anyhow. Recognition is built over bodies of work and time and money is mostly made when artists are popular. Stealing and selling off one song or trying to get rich releasing one track under your own (non-famous) name doesn't make someone a millionaire these days.


Rev.

 

[drgamble]

Sorry, but that is just plain not true. If you can prove you are the writer of the song and the other party can not they will lose ownership. Yes, you can retort with, "Oh but it's hard to prove" but I don't really think it is especially with the online world one's history is easily trackable. Let's say you posted an earlier rendition two years ago to get mixing comments, you can point to that. You can point to project files, friends that can verify you played it for them, etc. there are a lot of ways to prove you are the writer.

Again, it's certainly far harder with music that is easily replicable like guitar driven music, but still not impossible.

If it were as simple as whoever registers first is owner I think there would be droves of copyright trolls scouring SoundCloud.

Of course, you would have to fight it in a court which would be a pain. But also song theft doesn't really seem to be a profitable business idea anyhow. Recognition is built over bodies of work and time and money is mostly made when artists are popular. Stealing and selling off one song or trying to get rich releasing one track under your own (non-famous) name doesn't make someone a millionaire these days.


Rev.

If what you say is true, why would anyone pay the money at $35 a pop to register copyrights? Furthermore, to truly register a copyright for published materials, you actually have to pay $70 to register. For a published work, you not only have to register the music/lyrics, but you must also register the sound recording itself. Using poor man's copyright registration has never been a good idea. I generally don't think it is a good idea to release any music until you have the best version and the copyrights have been registered properly. To go even a step further, it is also a good idea to register with ASCAP/BMI and the various other societies like them that will collect monies on your behalf. There is a reason all of these things exist, and it is in our best interest to use them.

There have been stories throughout music history where big name artists have stolen songs from small artists. If one of the big boys decides to steal your unregistered work, you are going to have a hard time fighting someone that has good legal counsel. A good lawyer will be able to dispute almost any form of the Poor Man's Copyright.

Furthermore, just a little something from the Copyright office that you should read.

 

[Rev2010]

If what you say is true, why would anyone pay the money at $35 a pop to register copyrights?

Not sure I understand your question. You're asking why people would bother to pay for registration then? Well you obviously know why, for the added protection, it simplifies making a claim against an infringer. But look around you though, look at SoundCloud and even the Recording section on here. How many of these people posting all these songs, works in progress, etc are actually dropping the cash to register each track as they go BEFORE posting it on the internet? Not many bro, not many at all.

I generally don't think it is a good idea to release any music until you have the best version and the copyrights have been registered properly.

Agreed, and this is why I will be copyrighting my new album before its release.

There have been stories throughout music history where big name artists have stolen songs from small artists. If one of the big boys decides to steal your unregistered work, you are going to have a hard time fighting someone that has good legal counsel.

In those instances it's usually the big name artist copying an "idea" or "riff" from someone else's song rather than ripping off the entire song. When that occurs it's far harder to prove infringement even when you own the copyright since there are only so many ways you can arrange notes on a guitar. There will always be songs which contain the same or very similar musical passages that appear on other artists works. You'd have to prove that they were exposed to your work and directly stole from it - hard to prove either way.

Furthermore, just a little something from the Copyright office that you should read.

Me read? I've read it all already. Here's an excerpt from the image you posted that exactly reinforces what I'd said:

"However, registration is not a requirement for protection, the copyright law provides several inducements or advantages to encourage copyright owners to make registration."

I'm not in any way saying there's no need to register, not at all. I'm merely pointing out that one doesn't HAVE to have their work registered to be protected and that if someone registers your work first it does not mean they then own all rights to it.


Rev.

 

[drgamble]

There is a very important statement in the screenshot that everyone in this discussion should understand.

"Before an infringement suit may be filed in court, registration
is necessary for works of U. S. origin."

Now to be clear, with the amount of piracy that goes on these days, copyright laws don't mean the same thing they used to mean. The chances of someone actually getting sued over infringement these days is almost nil. The fact that almost any release is available for free on the internet means that even if I stole one of your songs, the chances that I would make enough money off of it to even make a lawsuit worth the trouble are very slim. Where registration does help is with DMCA take down notices.

 

[Rev2010]

There is a very important statement in the screenshot that everyone in this discussion should understand.

"Before an infringement suit may be filed in court, registration
is necessary for works of U. S. origin."

Yeah that line was a bit surprising. I'd gather though at that point the real author would merely register the work then claim? If not I'm pretty sure a lawyer would know how to proceed against the offender especially if they registered your work as their own. I'm guessing that would constitute copyright fraud or something of that nature.

The chances of someone actually getting sued over infringement these days is almost nil. The fact that almost any release is available for free on the internet means that even if I stole one of your songs, the chances that I would make enough money off of it to even make a lawsuit worth the trouble are very slim.

That's pretty sad though no?


Rev.

 

[blanco]

I don't know if it's different in the UK but we have something called PRS for music and they outline everything on there. It mentions about sending it to yourself as record delivery.

Copyright FAQ

 

[TheKindred]

it's a little different in canada as well, but from what I understand with US Copyright the fee is for a "work". You could do each song, but you can also copyright the album as a whole since it is still a complete "work".

 

[mr_rainmaker]

but,quite a few if not most now,countries don`t recognize US copywrite,isn`t canada one of them?