apl said:
How so? My understading is that posting on soundclick is publishing, basically throwing it out into public access.
Your song is copyrighted the moment you put pen to paper or record it in some other fashion, as mjareo stated above. However, the US Government only recognizes your copyright once you've registered it with the US Copyright office. That's why the "poor man's copyright" and the testimony of 1000 friends won't work.
I think we are confusing "creation" with "publication". You can post you song online, give it to 1000 friends, and enter it in 1000 contests, but you have still only "created" it.
I will post the entire quote from section 3 of form PA that BentRabbit only posted an excerpt from. And I quote:
Section 3
General Instructions: Do not confuse “creation” with “publication.”
Every application for copyright registration must state “the year in which creation of the work was completed.” Give the date and nation of first publication only if the work has been published.
Creation: Under the statute, a work is “created” when it is fixed in a copy or phonorecord for the first time. Where a work has been prepared over a period of time, the part of the work existing in fixed form on a particular date constitutes the created work on that date. The date you give here should be the year in which the author completed the particular version for which registration is now being sought, even if other versions exist or if further changes or additions are planned.
Publication: The statute defines “publication” as “the distribution of copies or phonorecords of a work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by rental, lease, or lending”; a work is also “published” if there has been an “offering to distribute copies or phonorecords to a group of persons for purposes of further distribution, public performance, or public display.” Give the full date (month, day, year) when, and the country where, publication first occurred. If first publication took place simultaneously in the United States and other countries, it is sufficient to state “U.S.A.”
So, let's say you wrote a song, gave to 10 friends, and entered it in 2 contests. Now, let's look at the requirments for publication. Have you:
1) distributed it to the public by sale? No. (The song, not the copy of it.)
2) distributed it to the public by transfer of ownership? No. (The song, not the copy of it.)
3) distributed by rental, lease, or lending? No. (The song, not the copy of it.)
4) received an offering to distribute? No. (The song, not the copy of it.)
I'll be the first to admit that I am no lawyer. All the above is based on my experience in the biz and knowledge of how things work. I will say that "publishing" a song involves signing a legal contract (unless you are self-publishing). I have looked over and signed publishing contracts, and they can be a little daunting. One thing they do is establish a legal date that the song existed, and that might have been this guy's only hope, as philboyd studge said earlier. As a side note, I have yet to see a publishing contract that does not have a clause that states the song's copyright number.
In thinking about it, I guess that if you have not signed a legal contract with a publisher you could argue that you are self-published. I'll also say that the copyright office and the music biz in general could have different definitions for "published".
In the end, it is all really immaterial.... my first paragraph of this post still stands.
A
p.s. (edit) In re-reading the Copyright Office instructions above, I noticed it says "distribution of copies or phonorecords". I wonder if this language has been changed since the Copyright Act was written in the '70's, when people couldn't rip their own CD's, post mp3's, or print out sheet music on their home computers.
Interesting.
