Copyright for NFT

N

nothingness

Member
I don't have so many fans. Around 10 people-ish? And I'm going to sell my songs on NFT. The thing is that I haven't copyrighted my songs even though I released and uploaded them everywhere (Youtube, Facebook, SoundCloud and etc). Which means the songs are not documented yet. In this case, is there any problems? Should I document them first? Or is it ok just to sell them?
 
The short answer is - They're considered copyrighted as soon as you create them, BUT.. you should register your copyrights to give yourself a solid legal footing in any possible disputes that may arise in the future.

That's all I got. Others here can go into more detail.

Good luck with your music ! :guitar:
 
spantini said:
The short answer is - They're considered copyrighted as soon as you create them, BUT.. you should register your copyrights to give yourself a solid legal footing in any possible disputes that may arise in the future.

That's all I got. Others here can go into more detail.

Good luck with your music ! :guitar:
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US copyright law says that you own the copyright immediately, but you cannot take action against infringers without registering the copyright.

IANaL, so I don't know if you can get away with registering your copyright after you notice someone infringing on it.

Also, I know it's not your question, but NFTs are a) a scam and b) terrible for the environment and will be for the forseeable future.
 
nothingness said:
I don't have so many fans. Around 10 people-ish? And I'm going to sell my songs on NFT. The thing is that I haven't copyrighted my songs even though I released and uploaded them everywhere (Youtube, Facebook, SoundCloud and etc). Which means the songs are not documented yet. In this case, is there any problems? Should I document them first? Or is it ok just to sell them?
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You can register with ASCAP as a music distributer and register your songs there.
I did it a few years ago and remember it being a fairly easy process but somewhat clerical.
There are several different categories there at ASCAP which you can register to and they al have different +/- options.
Distributer seems the best one for what I was looking for.
 
Manslick said:
You can register with ASCAP as a music distributer and register your songs there.
I did it a few years ago and remember it being a fairly easy process but somewhat clerical.
There are several different categories there at ASCAP which you can register to and they al have different +/- options.
Distributer seems the best one for what I was looking for.
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This is a good idea (tho I recommend BMI; I did not like ASCAP), but it's worth being aware that this is not registering your copyright. This helps you get paid for some default licensing things, but if someone rips off your song, your PRO registration won't help you sue them

a way to make some fast money off of idiots yes
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What do you think "scam" means?
Yes, there are legitimate sales of NFTs, but the space is rife with art theft, money laundering, and pyramid schemes. The more "useful idiots" they can get to invest in the concept, the longer the pyramid schemes can keep going, and the more the people at the top will make (and the more people at the bottom will get shorted)

terrible for the environment and will be for the forseeable future.
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The actual money exchanges of crypto are almost all using Bitcoin and Ethereum, which use Proof of Work to generate the underlying tokens to authenticate transactions. So every main-line transaction in the space takes the energy equivalent of about 1/8-1/4 of a gallon of gas. It'd be like if you wanted to get into trading stocks, but for every trade you had to drive 5 miles to an exchange to do it..
 
I had to Google NFTs, and then wished I hadn't. If you only have ten fans, how many of them would do this?

Find an aggregator - there are loads, use them to get your music out there and do some reading on copyright. The basic concept has not changed for years. You own the rights unless you assign them to somebody else. There is a right in the music and the lyrics and there's also a right on any physical disc, record, memory card with the music on. every country has a rights organisation - the UK has two, one for the composer and one for the recording. You can join your countries societies and register each work with them - they will allocate the required numbers. If you use an aggregator they will issue the numbers. For most people, that's sufficient. Some will also be looking at the cover art and other components, but once you start receiving royalties, that is usually enough in most jurisdictions to give you protection in the practical sense.

Some will be less than honest and rip you off (sorry - bad experience with Distrokid) but songtradr have started generating money for me. However - they don't like covers and I'm using another one for covers as they can do the licence for the USA covers. In the UK, covers don't seem to be a problem, the system seems to track them OK.

Since these aggregators have been doing their thing - I've not come across any need to consider any registration. Fair enough, I've only looked at the UK perspective, but once you get them up and running they fix Spotify, iTunes and all the others so it's your details that come up in a search.
 
Manslick said:
You can register with ASCAP as a music distributer and register your songs there.
I did it a few years ago and remember it being a fairly easy process but somewhat clerical.
There are several different categories there at ASCAP which you can register to and they al have different +/- options.
Distributer seems the best one for what I was looking for.
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All of my songs are registered with BMI, but not be registered with the US government because I'm not living in the States now. So, is it good enough to not register with the government organization separately?
 
Well I should have said publisher instead of distributer.
For me, as a one man operation, that seemed the logical way to register.
This stuff is very complicated.
For me I just wanted a place to register some of my songs.
It can't hurt to get as much protection as possible.
There are a lot of help options on the ASCAP website.
 
I think that as an artist with very low sales, I would initially take the simplest route you can. You can do it yourself, or you can trust a distributer (aggregator) The important thing is to get your music onto Spotify, then the other platforms. I get far more from Spotify than the others. Most aggregators make life as simple for you as they can and they produce the registration codes as part of the deal. If you put them direct on the big platforms yourself, then you probably should also protect them, but doing this is boring, tricky to get right and not much fun.

I have accounts with
Distrokid - the biggest, (but known for deleting people's entire catalogue if you upset them)
Record Union
Ditto
Songtradr
Soundrop
Tunecore

They differ in terms of cost, complexity, territory and facilities. My music that generates money is mostly coming via songtradr, with smaller amounts from Ditto and Record Union. Distrokids was doing very well till they removed my music and froze my account. Songtradr I like because they are easy to navigate and get stuff up on the useful platforms. Some like covers, some don't and some hate classical music. Some charge you per release others a yearly fee for as much as you like. They all have good FAQ sections explaining what they do - and you will find one that suits that is simple. Money is ALWAYS three months at least behind. They also provide stats - so you find out which country and cities each title is played which is nice. Spotify sign up as an artist and iTunes/apple too is worth doing because then you also get stats direct from them.

The way copyright works is that as soon as your titles pop up on Spotify, iTunes, Apple Music, YouTube etc - the music is published and protection is there for all to see. If your music appears in a Spotify search with your details, you don't need to do anything because the evidence of ownership is there, and you exist, world wide.
 
nothingness said:
As far as I understand, ASCAP and BMI provide the same service, but just different organizations. Should I sign up with ASCAP as well?
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Yes, they offer the same service. They also have exclusivity in their terms, so you would have to cancel your BMI account to get an ASCAP one. I'd recommend sticking with BMI.
 
rob aylestone said:
I think that as an artist with very low sales, I would initially take the simplest route you can. You can do it yourself, or you can trust a distributer (aggregator) The important thing is to get your music onto Spotify, then the other platforms. I get far more from Spotify than the others. Most aggregators make life as simple for you as they can and they produce the registration codes as part of the deal. If you put them direct on the big platforms yourself, then you probably should also protect them, but doing this is boring, tricky to get right and not much fun.

I have accounts with
Distrokid - the biggest, (but known for deleting people's entire catalogue if you upset them)
Record Union
Ditto
Songtradr
Soundrop
Tunecore

They differ in terms of cost, complexity, territory and facilities. My music that generates money is mostly coming via songtradr, with smaller amounts from Ditto and Record Union. Distrokids was doing very well till they removed my music and froze my account. Songtradr I like because they are easy to navigate and get stuff up on the useful platforms. Some like covers, some don't and some hate classical music. Some charge you per release others a yearly fee for as much as you like. They all have good FAQ sections explaining what they do - and you will find one that suits that is simple. Money is ALWAYS three months at least behind. They also provide stats - so you find out which country and cities each title is played which is nice. Spotify sign up as an artist and iTunes/apple too is worth doing because then you also get stats direct from them.

The way copyright works is that as soon as your titles pop up on Spotify, iTunes, Apple Music, YouTube etc - the music is published and protection is there for all to see. If your music appears in a Spotify search with your details, you don't need to do anything because the evidence of ownership is there, and you exist, world wide.
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Wow, great details! Thanks for that.
All of my music is on the major platforms you mentioned. Youtube, Spotify, Deezer, SoundCloud, BandCamp, Songtradr, Pond5, Facebook, Tweeter and etc. My distributors are Amuse, RouteNote and Soundrop, btw.
I heard some people say that I need to register copyright in order to sell my music on NFT. But some people say I don't need to as if you said. So, I'm so confused. Another biggest problem is that I'm in a country that is really corrupted(much worse than the States). Although you register your songs to them, your work won't be protected and you won't be paid properly. They usually take the artists' money in their pocket. Thus, I've been looking for international (global) copyright organizations. Anyways, the lyrics of my songs are written in English.
If someone actually has experience selling their songs on NFT, it can be super helpful though.
 
VomitHatSteve said:
Yes, they offer the same service. They also have exclusivity in their terms, so you would have to cancel your BMI account to get an ASCAP one. I'd recommend sticking with BMI.
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Pretty sure if you already have an account with BMI you can join ASCAP too.
VomitHatSteve said:
Yes, they offer the same service. They also have exclusivity in their terms, so you would have to cancel your BMI account to get an ASCAP one. I'd recommend sticking with BMI.
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"You can use the same business entity (e.g. LLC) when registering as a publisher with ASCAP and BMI, but your affiliation name should be slightly different with each society. Acme Publishing LLC could become Acme A Publishing LLC and Acme B Publishing LLC, for instance. One extra letter is all you need to differentiate them.

For more information on personal publishing entities, check out our blog post here."
 
You just appoint them to do the submissions to iTunes, apply, Spotify and the others they're a bit different because they also are a platform for streaming themselves, but if you use the distribution tab, they will put it everywher. They handle the US Mechanical royalties if you opt in, and the YouTube distribution. Seems to work. If you music is already with them, just let them place the music, if you've not already done it?
 
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