Copyrite

B

barrt

New member
I have written a few tunes. The last one I did has gotten some local buzz since I have performed it. People have been asking me for copies and I have been leary since I don't have any copyrite to it. Can someone tell me what or where I need to do or go to have my material protected? Any help would be much appreciated.
Thanks, Terry
 
Another question

Thanks for your reply but I now have another question. How do you go about getting a song published? Where do I go for that? Is it really needed?. I have my songs home recorded, so when I copyright them, do I send in for that? I am sorry that I am such a newbie but I am really unschooled in all this. Thanks, Terry
 
published versus unpublished (versus Godzilla)

Time was that the distinction meant something, but not anymore (except as far as how many copies of the work you have to file). All you need is to copyright the song. While your at it, copyright all your songs as a collection, it costs the same. Burn the files to a cd-rom and send that in with your application. More info on all this is available at the copyright site linked above.

These days, anyone can "publish" their work, all that means is you make it available to the public, which could be something as simple as posting an MP3 of it somewhere or selling tapes of it at your shows or whatever.

Check out these links:
http://www.loc.gov/copyright/circs/circ56a.pdf
and http://www.loc.gov/copyright/circs/circ56.html where we find the following chestnut:
As a general rule, a number of unpublished musical works may be grouped together and registered as a single collection with one application only if the author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are the same for every work. For the registration to cover the sound recording as well, this same condition must apply to both the musical works and the sound recording.

For example: Al and Sue co-wrote eight songs and performed and recorded them on tape. Because they coauthored all of the songs and the sound recording, they may register all of these elements on one application using Form SR. Space 2 should name both individuals as authors and describe the authorship of each as "lyrics, music, and sound recording." Space 4 should name both of them as claimants.
 
While obviously well-intentioned, Zoetrope's advice isn't the way to go. The drawback is this: while it is cheaper to copyright all the songs as a "collection", the copyright office FILES the collection under one name: i.e. "Barrt's Songs". Great. Now I'm Mr. Producer looking for material for one of my artists, and I hear this song-( the one people want copies of at your gigs) - say it's called "I Love You Baby" - so I check BMI's and ASCAP's database - not there. I check with the copyright office - not there.
(It's THERE, but under the title "Barrt's Songs") Now I'm trying to decide if the song is copyrighted at all; if I think it's not, I will pass on the song. Why? Because reputable producers are deluged with material that IS properly documented, and won't touch a song that even appears unprotected. Lawyers.
I would suggest you do both. Copyright the CD as Zoetrope said, but get a seperate copyright on the potential "hit". Then try pitching it to people in the biz. Join BMI or ASCAP - (I'm in BMI so I'm biased) - they can really help you understand all of this, and if someone picks up the song they'll make sure you get paid.
As for "publishing"; technically, you have published the CD as soon as you distribute it or offer it for sale. This doesn't make you a publisher, just as recording your own CD doesn't make you a recording engineer. A publisher has a staff that coordinates legal, financial, distribution, secures foreign rights, demos and promotes, the list goes on.
Hope this helps.
 
What?!?

How dare you imply that my advice was well intentioned. It was mean spirited and evil, damnit!

Yup, Buffalo Bob has a good point about people finding your song in a copyright search, although I'm not sure registering it as a collection would preclude having a seperate song listing with BMI or ASCAP.

Another option. Suppose the hit is called "Who's Your Monkey". (Work with me here). You could register the collection as "Who's Your Monkey and other great songs by me." That way a search on the song name would turn up the collection and the artist that wrote the songs and owns the copyright. And you saved some cash, which you will now please hand over to me. :eek: Thank you.

Kacheeeeng!
 
That's good advice from the man from the Windy City.
And I've already copyrighted "Who's Your Monkey", so keep off!
It's from my Greatest Hits CD titled "Primate Love".

Buf
 
Guys, guys, guys.....

These days, Mr Producer only has a few select publishers, entertainment lawyers, etc... that he will even LISTEN to songs from....so I go with Zoe's compilation idea, which is how Ive always done it myself....get the songs copyrighted however you have to....

Now the question is whether barrt is looking to just get the song heard or to be the actual recording artist....if you just want the song recorded by someone else, the thing to do is to hook up with a GOOD publisher who has the contacts to get the song heard......If you want to be the actual artish, publish it yourself.....there are many good books available on the subject.....
 
I make it a point to put AT LEAST two hits on each CD, so Zoetrope's clever naming scheme wouldn't work for me. :D

As I understand it, registering copyright and publishing are two entirely different things. Registering the copyright means you can prove you wrote it. Publishing it means you can collect royalties when other people do it or use it on TV, radio, etc. You can publish your stuff yourself, but it's better taken care of by someone who knows about it - and it's time-consuming. There's a good article on music publishing in June's Electronic Musician.
 
I have an idea

Dobro, you'll have to call your collection "Who's Your Monkey and Does Something Smell Like Burnt Toast and other great hits by Dobro who will sell you the rights to these and many other songs for a modest but reasonable fee after all I've got to pay the bills around here collection"

As for "publishing" and "publish", these are slippery terms that mean different things in different contexts. The generic meaning is just to issue for public distribution or sale, or to bring to public attention. But the copyright office has their own definition and I'm sure ASCAP and BMI have there's. What a wacky world we live in.
 
Now what if I title the compilation "Who's Your Monkey and other great songs by me: 1. Here is the trick; 2. Who's your monkey; 3. Don't understand copyright; 4. Maybe someone on this BB will explain; 5...; 6... etc".
In other words, if I include the title of every song into the title of compilation, will it make every title findable in the PTO database?
 
One way I see a lot of collections in the LOC database is this way, but what I don't know is how the person filled out the form as opposed to what the data entry clerks at LOC did as they entered the info. The person John Smith may have actually listed all the titles in the title field and this is how they shortened it.
So Let's say John Smith cuts a 6 song EP and sends it in as a collection.
Song 1: Spank Your Monkey
Song 2: Eat the Dog
Song 3: Punish my Porpoise
Song 4: Snack on my Sack Cheese
Song 5: My Balls Ache
Song 6: Can you Smell That?

The thing you see in LOC's database looks like this:

PA-1-024-xxx
TITL: Spank your monkey; Eat the dog; ...et al.
PHYS: Compact disc.
NOTE: Collection; 6 songs
CLNA: Monkey Love Publishing
DCRE: 1999 DPUB: 20Dec99 DREG: 2Oct00
APAU: words & music: John Smith, 1970-.



Or, if done the other way... Let's say John just puts "John Smith's songs" in the title field.


PA-1-024-xxx
TITL: John Smith's Songs
PHYS: Compact disc.
NOTE: Collection; 6 songs
CLNA: Monkey Love Publishing
DCRE: 1999 DPUB: 20Dec99 DREG: 2Oct00
APAU: words & music: John Smith, 1970-.

The second one gives no indication of titles. The "et. al." in the first one is important as it infers all titles being covered by copyright. So my guess is that listing the titles is a good way to go.

Brad
 
echo echo echo

SR is the proper form for registering a collection of works, as we've been discussing above.
 
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