Copyright Question

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K9SaVeLLi

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I read somewhere that you can submit groups of material (beats, in this case) to the US Copyright Office and have all of them copywritten for $35.

Do you know if the beats have to be completely finished? Meaning, do they have to be in a completed sequence...as in if you submit the track, is only the original copywritten version protected? Or say down the line you decide to trick it out (seq, change a sound, mixing) would that version still be copyright protected?

I ask this because I normally don't "finish" a beat until it is sold or I'm actually making a song. EX: At home I will create a sequence to demo to artists, then after the beat has been purchased, i will sequence it, add effects, create stereo mix..."finish" it, or i will go to whatever studio they work at and track it out so they can sequence and mix the beat for their song. In both cases there are new versions of the beat. Will these "new" versions still be protected even though they are not the original copywritten piece of work?

Thanks in advance.
 
Your music is automatically copyrighted as soon as you create it. The $30 is for a registration. You don't have to register, but you do have to register before filing a lawsuit in the US. Also, if you register before the infringement, you can get more in damages ("statutory damages" and attorneys' fees).

The order isn't important. If the music changes between the registration and the use, then it will be up to a judge or jury to decide whether the new material is an infringement of the old material. Also, it's up to them to decide whether the material is sufficiently original to be considered "the works of an artist". For example, if you filed a 60 bpm click track, you wouldn't get much coverage.

In other words, the more things change, and the less recognizably "yours" the result is, the less protection you get from a registration.

Go to http://www.copyright.gov for all the details. Look for "form PA", for "performing arts", and use the "simple" form.
 
You can't copyright a beat. You can only copywrite a song that has melody and lyrics.
 
TexRoadkill said:
You can't copyright a beat. You can only copywrite a song that has melody and lyrics.
Click to expand...

Not true. No melody is required. No lyrics are required -- plenty of instrumentals have been copyrighted! Philip Glass copyrighted a song that is 3 minutes and some odd seconds of total silence. And -- here's the funny part -- someone infringed on it, he sued, and was successful! That sounds strange, but the album of the "offender" even listed Glass's work as the inspiration for the piece. Otherwise there'd have been no way to prove he didn't come up with it himself, according to the judge.

You can copyright any "work by an author".

You can copyright something, but anyone who comes up with the same idea independently is NOT infringing on your copyright.

Don't take my word for it. Go read the www.copyright.gov pages and see for yourself. (You won't find the anecdote about Glass there, though. You'll have to google it.)

You can copyright a beat. Whether it's enforcable or not depends on how unusual it is, and whether you can show that the infringer "had access" to your work. If someone uses your sound file, it would be pretty obvious.
 
TexRoadkill said:
You can't copyright a beat. You can only copywrite a song that has melody and lyrics.
Click to expand...

not true, look at The Grey Album. He didn't use any beatles lyrics and the drums were chopped up beyond recognition, and EMI still had a hissyfit, so yes, any part of a song can be copyrighted.

http://www.greytuesday.org
 
I think the sound recording copyright is what the grey album got in trouble for. a sound recording and a song are two seperate things as far as copyright is concerned.
 
True, soundrecording and performing arts are different kinds of copyrights.

Soundrecording or "phonorecord" is what the circle-p stands for. If you remastered and published your own "hits" collection of other people's work, you could register a soundrecording for that. (Of course, you'd have to pay the artists their royalties.)

And you're right that the Grey issue is over soundrecording, because that's all EMI owns. Joe Gratz (joegratz.net) says:
Whoever owns the rights to the musical works underlying the White Album could certainly sue and win under Federal copyright law, since musical works were protected at the time The White Album was published. But Michael Jackson has other things on his plate right now.
Click to expand...
I agree with Joe.
 
i almost forgot sound recording copyrights didnt start till 78' or was it 72?
 
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