Copyrighting your own music

  • Thread starter Thread starter _brian_
  • Start date Start date
_brian_

_brian_

Member
Hello everyone, i'm a newbie with regard to publishing my own music. I know nothing of it. I've heard of people sending music to themselves in registered post but this sounds a little messy tbh.

I have just found about sites that register your own intelectual properties for an annual, and then submission fee etc.

Can any of you help me with regard to this, i'm a little paranoid about people knicking my lyrics and music. I want to be safe, and i want people to hear my music.

thanks everyone, eps for any help put forward :)

ps, any sites you trust could you put forward? thanks
 
The copyright law is easy and simple. You do not need to pay anyone anything. Publish your songs on the web if you want on a blog and put a copyright notice on the bottom with a date. And mailing yourself the printed lyrics is also a fine backup. You do not have to post your songs on the web if you do not want to. Just printing them and adding the copyright to it is enough. The issues comes when someone steals your work and you have to prove you wrote it first - which is where the mail comes in. But publishing it on the web like on a blog with the date is also an easy way to time stamp it. Although it also opens it up for other people to read - but since almost every song lyric in the world is published online I don't think you have too much to worry about. Better to get it out there and claim it than keep it in your bedroom and watch someone else post it as their own!


Here is some info:

How Do I Claim Copyright Protection?

This is probably the most frequently misunderstood element of copyright law. Many writers still believe that a formal copyright registration is required, and/or that a work must first be published to qualify for copyright protection. Not so! Under the 1976 Act, copyright is automatic when the work is created, and a work is "created" when it is fixed in a copy or recorded for the first time (e.g., the instant you lift pen from paper or your word processing software saves to disk). Publication is no longer the key to obtaining federal copyright. (Before 1978, federal copyright was generally secured by the act of publication with notice of copyright.) When a work is prepared over a period of time, the part of the work that is fixed on a particular date constitutes the created work as of that date.
(from page linked below)

This may help Understanding Copyright

Good luck
- Wes
 
If you do post yourself the lyrics, make sure that you get it sent by recorded delivery and don't open it!!
 
"and don't open it!!"

how did you know i was going to do that? lol
 
thanks for the info arcedeko, but it was for posting full recorded songs on the web, to if anything - elleviate paranoia.

i'm not well enough to gig my own stuff, but would still like to get feedback on how people percieve it until i'm recovered enough to play live.

i found this site: Copyright Registration | Register Copyright | Compare Copyright Services

it's only a tenner a year for unlimited files, so i thought why not.

sending by recorded mail would get expensive if you have a lot of material, so i signed up and it seems ok.

it also meant i could post my music straight away - instead of waiting for the mail man!

was this a good idea? should i do anything else now?

thanks for your help :)
 
I am also cripplingly paranoid about such things which tends to make me reluctant to spread my music about; in turn this means I am not giving myself the exposure I could have, etc... Anyway, I used the UK Copyright Service who charge £39 for five years. They have a US based operation too. I have no idea what would happen if I ever needed to call on their services to prove ownership but hey, I have some nice certificates, copyright stickers and I tend to feel it's better than nothing. ;)
 
i'm jealous, i didn't get any stickers or certificates :(

just a blinking code and a date along with "upload successful"!
 
Ha! I'd trade them all for a publishing contract. No better copyright proof than having your stuff published, complete with dates and mega famous divas and bands to sing it! ;)
 
Mailing copies of your work to yourself doesn't take the place of proper registration. It's a myth that refuses to die.
 
The US and UK laws are probably different, but I'm sure not by much. In the US, no court of law will recognize a self-addressed unopened letter containing your song or lyrics as proof of copyright ownership. The only way to prove ownership is to register it with the US Copyright office.

I don't know about the UK, but I would not trust a 3rd party vendor to register my copyright ownership. Just register directly with the your copyright office. If you can't find one in the UK, maybe you can register with the US one. i know of people from Canada who uses the US office, I'm sure you can do it from the UK as well. But double-check that so you're not wasting money.

And of course, registering your copyrights won't prevent anyone from stealing your work. The only time registering your copyright matters is when someone stole your work and you are taking them to court. I thknk the only time that might happen is if you are collaborating with a co-writer and he tries to screw you out of what is rightfully yours.... or the other way around.
 
The immediately preceding post seems to get it right.

Key points:
- UK law is different from US, so US advice on registration, automatic copyright protection upon fixing a song in medium of expression, etc. may be wrong in the UK.
- Mailing things to yourself doesn't accomplish much of anything.
- Registration (in the US) isn't necessary, but accomplishes some things, such a proving date of authorship and getting you past having to prove damages.
- A service that charges you a lot of money sounds like a scam to me. On the other hand, there are some similar services in other fields (e.g. the WGA screenplay registry) that are legit.
 
copyright.gov

or something like that.

In the old days mailing yourself a "certified" letter with the contents. Established a date/time and paper trail. i.e. Proof, that's more likely to get recognized by a court. (mail system is a federally recognized institution). But it's assumed by default in the US. You actually have to explicitly state that it's public domain to put it in the public domain. And other things like that. Generally putting copyright and year on the media makes it more official. i.e. reserve the right to ... (sue if need be). But it's probably different in the UK.
 
IDK ... The best song I ever wrote was stolen from me and that song still hasn't made that F***er a dime.
 
Eeesh, I'm sorry man. Can you explain how that happened?
 
Shadow_7 said:
copyright.gov

or something like that.

In the old days mailing yourself a "certified" letter with the contents. Established a date/time and paper trail. i.e. Proof, that's more likely to get recognized by a court. (mail system is a federally recognized institution)...............
Click to expand...

Once again, this is a myth. This does not take the place of proper registration.
 
I don't know of many musicians that could afford "proper" registration before making a dime on the content. Wasn't it like $250-ish going directly to the .gov option? And was that per song? Or part / piece of paper?

Not that it'd matter if you didn't have anyone to sue over it, or if that someone didn't have any money for you to get from the effort. But I'm not a lawyer, nor do I want to be.
 
The ego on some people. :rolleyes:

Worrying about someone stealing their songs and making money off it. ROFL!!!!

:laughings:
 
I stand corrected. The mail it to yourself thing doesn't stand up in US courts. But copyright is automatic in both the US and UK

Intellectual Property Office - Copyright

From that site: "There is no official registration system for copyright. It's an automatic right"

Maybe Rick can give you the link to where you pay the $35 registration - not sure if thats per song or you can copyright an entire album for that fee?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top