poor mans Copyright doesnt work too well

[distortedrumble]

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/S/SPEARS_COPYRIGHT?SITE=NCGRE&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

Copyright Lawsuit Against Spears Dismissed

By KEN KUSMER
Associated Press Writer

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- An Indiana songwriter's copyright infringement lawsuit against singer Britney Spears over the song "Sometimes" has been dismissed because she was able to show it wasn't copied, her attorney said Tuesday.

"I cannot emphasize enough this was not a settlement but a dismissal," said David R. Baum, an attorney for Spears and her co-defendants. No money will change hands, he said.

U.S. District Judge John D. Tinder in Indianapolis last week dismissed the lawsuit by Steve Wallace.

Wallace sued Spears, her album promoter, Sony/BMG Music Publishing Inc., and recording and publishing companies affiliated with the singer, claiming he had written the song 15 years ago.

The complaint acknowledged Wallace did not formally copyright his song until 2003. A few weeks after writing it in 1990, he executed what's commonly known as a "poor man's" copyright in which he placed his work in a sealed envelope and obtained a postmark. He shopped the song to publishers in 1994.

Spears, 23, obtained a U.S. copyright for "Sometimes" on Jan. 22, 1999. It appeared on her 1999 debut album, "... Baby One More Time" and on last year's "Greatest Hits: My Prerogative."

Wallace's attorney, John D. Ritchison, said he had no comment on the Oct. 31 dismissal.

 

[glynb]

Poor mans or rich mans copyright, if you're the little guy up against the big guns you're unlikely to get anywhere.

The owness is on you to prove they copied it, how are you gonna do that conclusively unless there's some witness who'll testify?

I'm assuming here that the song has been changed a little of course and not a blatant carbon copy.

Interesting example of the poor man's copyright thing not working. It's fruistrating though that the article doesn't mention if the sealed envelope was produced in court and opened before the judge or whatever. There's no detail of why it failed as a method.

 

[TimOBrien]

"poor mans" has not worked for many decades and has been shot down many, many times.

www.copyright.gov is the ONLY legal way in the U.S. to register your work.

 

[apl]

...if you're the little guy up against the big guns you're unlikely to get anywhere...

If the little guy has a real copyright and the songs are the same, the case is over.

 

[BJW]

All you have to do is put your songs on a CD, send 2 copies of it along with an form SR and $30 to the library of congress, and guess what - you're safe, and every song on the cd you send them is yours. It's really a lot cheaper and easier than people make it out to be.

Here's the link: http://www.copyright.gov/register/sound.html. It covers it all there.

 

[VomitHatSteve]

If the envelope is still sealed, couldn't she appeal the decision?

Even if she doesn't have the actual copyright, she may still have proof that her work was plagarized.

 

[apl]

If the envelope is still sealed, couldn't she appeal the decision?

Even if she doesn't have the actual copyright, she may still have proof that her work was plagarized.

You could mail yourself an unsealed envelope and three years later, stick something in it and seal it. It proves nothing.

 

[Blue Bear Sound]

All you have to do is put your songs on a CD, send 2 copies of it along with an form SR and $30 to the library of congress, and guess what - you're safe, and every song on the cd you send them is yours. It's really a lot cheaper and easier than people make it out to be.

Here's the link: http://www.copyright.gov/register/sound.html. It covers it all there.

Yes - that's the right way to go about it, but it's an illusion that you're "safe".... the fact is that the big players have far deeper pockets than most amateurs, so it becomes a question of how long an amateur can afford to keep the fight going..... in other words, you may be the absolute legitimate owner and have all your copyrights in place, but it will still cost you a lot of money to defend your values.... the big boys can keep the lawyers on it with nonsense for years until you run out of money!

Registering a copyright does prove ownership, but it doesn't pay for your costs to defend it if the time comes..........

 

[BJW]

Yes - that's the right way to go about it, but it's an illusion that you're "safe".... the fact is that the big players have far deeper pockets than most amateurs, so it becomes a question of how long an amateur can afford to keep the fight going..... in other words, you may be the absolute legitimate owner and have all your copyrights in place, but it will still cost you a lot of money to defend your values.... the big boys can keep the lawyers on it with nonsense for years until you run out of money!

Registering a copyright does prove ownership, but it doesn't pay for your costs to defend it if the time comes..........

Good point, but at least you would win the case (if your music was really "stolen"). Law suits cost money, no doubt about it. You could hire an attourney that gets paid a % of the money you win, if you win. The chances that an artist or another songwriter would copy anything we do on an amatuer basis is about 1 in 1,000,000, though, but its at least nice to know you have rights to your stuff - at $30 per album, a little assurance is pretty cheap.

 

[Blue Bear Sound]

Good point, but at least you would win the case...

Actually no - not necessarily.... there's an entire section devoted to this topic in Moses Avalon's book - Confessions of a Record Producer.... it's very enlightening and an excellent read!