Copyrights

  • Thread starter Thread starter Whyte Ice
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Whyte Ice

The Next Vanilla Ice
Can anyone point me towards a way on how and where to copyright / publish my own material.

I am very interested in getting some of my work copyrighted / published.
 
To anyone who wants to respond to Hixmix's "why bother?' statement, it was his foolish attempt at humor and doesnt warrant a thread on the advantages of copyrighting your material.....its been done quite a few times....
 
Thanks for the info Gidge.

Does this process take a long time?
 
If you are referring to the copyright process, it could take a long time (8 months or so) before you recieve your certificate...but your copyright goes into effect the day they recieve the forms and payment....
 
Geez, 8 months is a long while.

How do you know when your copyright goes into effect, do they contact you? Have you ever copyrighted something before Gidge?
 
Yes I have copyrighted before...in the frequently asked questions, they give the procedure on how to track your paperwork before you get your certificate, but I think they charge for it...I just wait for the certificate....if one of my songs is good enuff for someone to try and rip it off Id be flattered.....
 
There have been many discussions on this subject, if you think you are asking a question that might have been discussed before, then the chances are it already has. So do a search and type in the keyword and you should get all the answers you need.

While we're on the subject though; my friend said to me the other day that he was scared to put MP3's of his music, incase they were stolen before he copyrighted.

Firstly he has only just started songwriting, so they are not very good. Secondly why is he so paranoid? I mean if I can write one good song and have it stolen, well the chances are that the stealers will need more material from me. Which they can purchase next time.

And at $35 a copyright, I don't bother, so please feel free to plagerize my songs.
 
Royston, go ahead and post some MP3's for us...Im sure everyone could use some new material...But seriously, to a point I agree with you....Like I said, Id be flattered if someone thought my song was good enuff to rip it off...
 
There's always the tightwad's copywright; writing out the lyrics, guitar tabs, and whatever else, sticking it all in an envelope and mailing it to yourself.
 
Tekker,

That is a little risky as it is not considered a 'legal' copyright.
 
True....

but as you said you don't even bother copywrighting your songs, so I think that it would be better than nothing at all.
 
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You guys don't understand how much these songs mean to me, they're like my children. I've spent so much time working on these songs and for someone to take them away and calling them their own without my name seen anywhere would just break me up. To some of you, yours song may not mean much but to me they mean a whole lot.

I may be paranoid or whatever that I do not want to post my music on the net but I think I have a really good reason for it. I don't have much money so I don't think I could even pay to copyright each of my songs.
 
WhyteIce,

what I do is wait until I have a good batch and copyright all of them at once....record all of the songs on one tape or CD...name it WhyteIceCompililation1....note this title on the form, the tape or CD, and on each lyric sheet....it will only cost the price of one song ($30)...the next one can be named WhyteIceCompilation2 and so on, and so on.....

My songs are personal to me, too, but the odds of someone stealing it are slim and if it happens , oh well....

Tekker, that mailing it to yourself just doesnt hold up anywhere...too many ways that claims with this method can be fraudulent....posting your mp3 at a website would be better proof that you actually wrote the song....

And remember, a song is legally copyrighted as soon as you write it...registering it is just a technicality and a tool to prove your claim if someone ever infringes your song....If you dont have a copyright registered, you cannot file a copyright infringment case in a court of law....
 
Gidge said:
Tekker, that mailing it to yourself just doesnt hold up anywhere...too many ways that claims with this method can be fraudulent....
Click to expand...
I'm no expert on the subject but I've heard from more than one source that this way could be done. I also have a songwritting video tape and at the end he mentions different methods of copywrighting your songs and this was one of them, which shows that this method is at least somewhat accepted.

Gidge said:
If you dont have a copyright registered, you cannot file a copyright infringment case in a court of law....
Click to expand...
To me it seems that all a copyright is, is proof that you had written the song first. And if you had "proof" whether it be an MP3 site, mailing the song to yourself, or some other form identifing that you are the true creator of your song, why it wouldn't hold up in court.

Again I'm new to all this so feel free to correct me where I'm wrong. :)

-tkr
 
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