Copyright Mumbo Jumbo

Cooperman

New member
First read this:

"APRA is a non-profit organisation which exists in order to administer rights granted under copyright legislation to composers and songwriters.

APRA was formed in 1926 and now represents some twenty two thousand writers and publishers throughout Australasia as well as literally hundreds of thousands of writers and publishers from around the world.

As APRA's activities (and its members' rights) are based on copyright, it is important to understand something of that field.

In Australia copyright is governed by the Copyright Act 1968, a Commonwealth Act which has been significantly amended several times during the period 1968 to 1993. Under the Act copyright is granted in relation to several different kinds of "subject matter" including "musical works". Copyright, in relation to musical works, in fact consists of several exclusive rights which are granted to the author of the work. These exclusive rights are:

(a) the right to reproduce the work;
(b) the right to publish the work;
(c) the right to perform the work in public;
(d) the right to broadcast the work;
(e) the right to transmit the work to subscribers to
a diffusion (cable broadcasting) service; and
(f) the right to adapt (arrange or transcribe) the work.

Copyright, or any of the particular rights that make it up, is able to be assigned (transferred) or licensed (permitted to be used). To enable APRA to discharge its responsibilities to members, it obtains from them an assignment of the rights referred to under (c),(d) and (e) above, i.e. the rights of public performance, broadcasting and diffusion. In return APRA licenses such rights to broadcasters and other music users in respect of which it collects fees which are distributed to the writers of the works and their publishers.

In order for APRA to efficiently administer the rights of its members it has to be advised of the titles (and other relevant details such as the names and shares of any co-writers) of the works written by them. This process of notification is commonly referred to as "registration" but should not be confused with the idea of "copyright registration" about which there is widespread misapprehension.

Under Australian copyright law (and, indeed, under the Berne Convention to which Australia is party) copyright automatically subsists in original musical works as soon as they are "reduced to a material form" (e.g. demoed on cassette tape or written down). No form of registration is required, or even provided for, under the Copyright Act.

APRA generally recommends its members to retain a copy of any unpublished work. This copy should be identified by the year in which the work was written, the name/s of the creator/s and the copyright symbol - ©. (For example: © 1993 A.P. Rain). This copy should then be signed and dated by a reliable witness - such as a Justice of the Peace. More detailed questions concerning the subsistence or ownership of copyright can be directed to the Australian Copyright Council on (02) 318 1788."


Ok, I've read here over the past few months about how all of you in the US get copyright forms etc from LOC and pay up your $30 or whatever to protect your music... but surely the US is also a signatory to the Berne Convention. By recording you songs and getting them signed by a "reliable witness" you automatically get copyright protection. Is it this simple or am I missing something?
As it says above the Australian Copyright Act does not require registration forms - so why do all of you copyright your music with LOC?

I hate all this legal crap! :mad:
 
The short answer is that registration is not required unless you want to enforce your rights in court.
 
But the above statement says that you don't have to fill in the forms to get protection... even in court. If the law says you don't need a form, then surely that's good enough for the courts?
 
I thought of the JOP thing (well, notary public thing) too, but Brad's (famous) mum says it won't work, and if you go to the following thread, you'll see why.
https://homerecording.com/ubb/Forum5/HTML/000085.html

In this thread you will also find the clearest description of American copyright registration, provided by Rev E.

Finally, the American approach is much more legal, and much more organized, than approaches in Canada, Britain or Australia it seems. This might be a function of a lawyer-ridden society, but it does seem to offer real legal protection. Plus, $30 for as many songs as you can cram onto one CD - that's cheap insurance.
 
dobro... APRA is the main governing body of copyright in Australia... if they say a JOP is ok then surely it's ok?? They have many millions of dollars at stake in the Australian music industry... they would not be advising their members to do something that could potentially jeopodise the kind of money they deal with. When you think about it, if a JOP signs and dates the material, then there's the IMPORTANT date that is needed to prove or disprove who holds copyright on a piece...

What is the point of having a global copyright treaty if everyone BUT the US use it?
 
I understand what you're saying, and it makes sense. But it comes down to this for me - if it came to a legal case, what's the best way to PROVE in a court of law you wrote it first? The Americans have got it covered. The Canadians and Brits don't, near as I can tell. Put it in a bag and mail it to yourself? That can be faked. Send a government agency the mere *name* of the work you've written? Gimme a break! What about the chords, melody and words?

The JOP signature thing appeals to me, though, for its simplicity. Just make sure he/she signs the CD itself and not the jewel case. :) And throw in a lyric sheet for good measure. But where I live, a local notary's signature on a document costs more than the American LOC procedure, and is still not as good, I think. (Wouldn't you have to produce the actual JOP or notary in a court case? Isn't a big government department and official forms more impressive and immediately acceptable than an unknown's signature?). Anyway, I think I'm starting to go on a bit here...
 
I would HARdly say that the US system complicated. Yes, the U.S. is a signatory to the Berne Convention. But, every country has quirks in its court system that may demand that things be done differently to the Conventions that it signs. In the U.S., you DO automatically get copyright protection just by merely completing your song or music and fixing it on a medium (paper, cassette tape, CD, etc...). You don't even need a signature from a witness.

In fact, you can even enforce an unregistered copyright in court and get statuatory damages if you win. So far, you cannot get punitive damages ("pain and suffering" for authors) without registering your copyright. The reason for registration is simple: if the Government has a copy of the work on cassette, CD or lead sheet PRior to the infringement, there will be no question that the work is yours. It's really that simple. Why bother with getting a witness to sign when the work was created and go through all of that when you can have the Office of Copyrights be your Witness?

To me, $30 is a small price to pay for the satisfaction that I am guaranteed protection from copyright infringement and that I can collect the maximum sums from the infringer if I win in court. All of the other schemes that I've heard proposed in other related posts just don't make sense for all of the trouble that it will take. I can't see why folks would want an easier way out when all it takes is simply sending in $30, lyric sheets and a cassette.

Rev E
 
Rev E - how long does it take for LOC to process an application? Next question: presumably you're covered as soon as they receive the application?
 
Dobro,

If everything is filled out properly on the application and there are no questions, the application will take about 3 months. That's the average time for mine. Although, a friend's application took ~4 months.

Yes, you are covered the day that the application reaches their office. They stamp applications the day they are received. If they have to send it back to you to make a correction they will usually give you 30 - 60 days to maintain your original date before you have to file a new application and pay a new fee.

Rev E
 
...but the point still remains why should I, as an Australian citizen have to pay the US government money to protect my work. As Australia doesn't follow such rules, I don't see why I couldn't claim punitive damages for copyright infringement in an Australian court... cos they sure aren't gonna care if I've payed $30 to the US government! As far as Australian (and probably every other country apart from the US) law is concerned once I get my recording witnessed I have exclusive copyright over that material and should be able prosecute any infringement of that copyright to the fullest extent of the law.
 
http://www.supnik.com/

As near as I can tell, there's no reason you would have to pay for a US copyright...this site also gives details on Australian Copyright, WIPO, and Berne...site is easy to use too.....gibs
 
Do you ever plan on having your music performed in the States? Then go through the hassle. When in Rome...
 
Cooperman,

I never said that you did. If you are Australian, then what you said is fine. All of the countries that are signatories to the Berne Convention, WIPO/GATT, etc... will honor copyrights from other "member" countries. HOWever, despite these common conventions, the United States has agreements with some individual countries who are not signatories to these treaties. Australia may not have had the clout to sign such agreements, so if you're doing something in a big way, a US Copyright registration is not a bad idea.

Rev E
 
In the U.S. "Copyright Protection is automatic". Meaning, that once you put your music in a tangible medium, notated on paper, recorded, sketched on the back of a cocktail napkin, it is copyrighted. But, if you ever need to prove that you wrote it, then you must register it with the U.S. copyright bureau. Suppose you lay down the killer guitar riff, and record it, esentially, it is copyrighted. But then lets say you go and post it on your web site, someone hears it, likes it, re-records it, and registers it with the copyright bureau. Good luck in proving that its yours. Too bad, so sad, you loose.
 
here is some useful/less info. on copyrights.

Obtaining Copyright Protection

Under the current U.S. Copyright Act, copyright protection exists in "original works of authorship fixed in a tangible medium of
expression." The ease in which copyright rights are secured under this definition has led to copyrights becoming the most widely
available form of intellectual property protection. The discussion of the acquisition of copyright protection is divided into the
following sections:

originality requirement;
works of authorship;
fixation;
automatic creation; and
compilations.



Originality Requirement: For a work to be protected by copyright law, it must be "original." However, the amount of originality
required is extremely small. The work cannot be a mere mechanical reproduction of a previous work, nor can the work consists of
only a few words or a short phrase. In addition, if the work is a compilation, the compilation must involve some originality beyond
mere alphabetic sorting of all available works (see the discussion on compilations below for more information). Beyond that, almost
any work that is created by an author will meet the originality requirement.



Works of Authorship: The Copyright Act uses the phrase "works of authorship" to describe the types of works that are protected
by copyright law. This purposefully broad phrase was chosen by Congress to avoid the need to rewrite the Copyright Act every time
a new "medium" was discovered. This intended ambiguity allows the Copyright Act to protect World Wide Web pages and
multimedia cd roms even though these items did not exist at the time the Copyright Act was written. In order to clarify what was
considered a work of authorship, Congress included a list of eight works of authorship in the Act itself:

1.literary works;
2.musical works, including any accompanying words;
3.dramatic works, including any accompanying music;
4.pantomimes and choreographic works;
5.pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works;
6.motion pictures and other audiovisual works;
7.sound recordings; and
8.architectural works.

Although this list is not meant to be all-inclusive, most protected works fall into one of the specified categories. These categories are
broader than they initially appear to be. For example, computer programs and most compilations are registered as "literary works,"
while maps and architectural plans are registered as "pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works."



Fixation: In order for a work to be protectable, it must be fixed in a tangible medium of expression. A work is considered fixed
when it is stored on some medium in which it can be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated. For example, a song is
considered fixed when it is written down on paper. The paper is the medium on which the song can be perceived, reproduced and
communicated. It is not necessary that the medium be such that a human can perceive the work, as long as the work can be perceived
by a machine. Thus, the song is also fixed the moment the author records it onto a cassette tape. Similarly, a computer program is
fixed when stored on a computer hard drive. In fact, courts have even held that a computer program is fixed when it exists in the
RAM of a computer. This is true even though this "fixation" is temporary, and will disappear once power is removed from the
computer. (For more information on when a work is not fixed, see the BitLaw discussion on how unfixed works are not protected by
copyright law).



Automatic Creation: The above three requirements are the only requirements for copyright protection. As a result, copyright
protection exists the moment an original work of authorship becomes fixed. For example, the song in the previous example is
protected by copyright at the moment it is written to paper, or recorded on a cassette tape. A computer program is protected the exact
moment that it is saved to disk.

No other actions are required for copyright protection. There is no need to file an application for copyright protection, or to even
place a copyright notice on a work. These additional steps, often referred to as "formalities," were previously required to secure
copyright protection. Under the current law, the formalities of registration and notice now merely serve as recommended steps to
expand the protection provided by copyright (see the discussion on copyright formalities for more information).

This automatic creation of copyright protection in the United States began in 1978. Before 1978, statutory copyright was generally
secured by the act of publishing a work with a notice of copyright on the work. If a work remained unpublished, statutory copyright
could be secured by the act of registration. If a work was published without a copyright notice, the work could enter the public
domain and would not have copyright protection. Any work that was in the public domain on January 1, 1978 remained in the public
domain.



Compilation Copyrights: Compilation copyrights are a special breed of copyrightable work. They are defined by the Copyright
Act as a work that is formed by the "collection and assembling of preexisting materials or of data that are selected in such a way that
the resulting work as a whole constitutes an original work of authorship." An example of a compilation would be a collection of the
most influential plays of the Eighteenth Century. The individual plays themselves would not be subject to copyright protection, since
the copyright would have expired (see the discussion in BitLaw on copyright duration for more information). However, the selection
of the plays (as well as their order) involves enough original, creative expression to be protected by copyright. Therefore, the
grouping of plays is protected by the copyright in the compilation even though each individual play is not protected.

A grouping of facts is also protected as a compilation, assuming the grouping contains enough original expression to merit
protection. An example of a protectable grouping of facts would be the links to other web sites found in the BitLaw legal links
section. Each link consists merely of factual information, namely that a particular web site can be found at a particular URL location.
Thus, there is no copyright protection for the links. Although the individual links can be copied and placed unto another web site, if
the entire list (or a substantial portion) of the list were copied, the copyright in the compilation would be infringed. The creative,
original expression that is being protected is the sorting, selecting, and grouping of all the legal oriented web sites into the ordered
legal list fou
 
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