Another Inane Copyright Question

[mark4man]

OK...

I heard back from the copyright office. I had asked them how to go about copyrighting an entire CD release as a sound recording; & about the difference between an SR copyright & a "Phonorecord" copyright [looking at CDs from major acts; you'll find them copyrighted (usually under the protection of the record company) with the circle c...& also a circle p, which I assumed meant "Phonorecord".]

They gave me some great info...on how to include the various band members as a lineup (& to not list just the name of the band/artist) on Line 2; & how to list my previously registered SR copyrights for my tunes from the same CD on line 6...& all kinds of nifty, useful guidelines & info...

...& then they told me that a sound recording & a phonorecord were the same thing (???)

I'm assuming this is true...since it came from the library of congress, right?

Then, what the heck is the small case p with the circle around it?

mark4man

[RickW]

Could it be for "publishing" perhaps?

Yes the (P) is for published.

[mark4man]

Thanks, men.

"Publishing", eh?...never thought of that. The reason I thought it might be phonrecord was that...on a couple of my Steely Dan CDs, both the circle c & the circle p are listed as copyrighted by the record company; & it would have never dawned on me that the record company would also be the publisher.

Anyway...I just posted another inquiry (this one relating to money)...check it out if you don't mind.

Thanks,

mark4man

[Foo-bu]

its not for published....its actually copyright in PHONOGRAPH. meaning that you've copyrighted the SOUND RECORDINGS rather than the copyright C logo which stands for copyright as a song (lyrics & melody). The difference is important because you may not actually own the copyright of the sound recording if you sell a song you've written to someone else for use on their cd.

When you use the SR forms, they ask you what you are copyrighting and who owns what. this is where you would put sound recordings, music, lyrics, and whatever else you are the owner of.

the SR forms are used often for copyrighting a collection of material. If you wanted to go deeper into it you could fill out the regular forms to copyright each song individually but its really expensive

[mark4man]

So then it is for phonorecord? So I'm not crazy, afterall.

So then...the copyright office was giving me the straight dope when they said that the sound recording & the phonorecord were one in the same; &...to go further...the circle p is the copyright symbol for the sound recording copyright protection.

That's it, right?

Thanks,

mark4man

[warble2]

Originally Posted by danny.guitar

Yes the (P) is for published.

Nice try at a guess, Foo-bu is correct though.

I always thought the (P) in the circle meant published...

My mistake. Either way, you can fill out a form SR, and under "Nature of authorship", write "words, music, arrangement, sound recording, underlying music", etc. so not just the recording is copyrighted, but the underlying music as well.

I almost made this mistake the first time I copyrighted a song.