copywriting incomplete songs

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I have a batch of tunes close to being complete. My style is to go in to the studio with the songs essentially complete but I leave a little room for inspiration at the last minute. I'm also lazy with the lyrics-I'll waffle over them and at the very end I'll settle on them. But I'm also getting ready to drop off my tape to some producers, engineers, studio owners, and session musicians, etc. In the past I haven't had a lot of people hear my stuff before copywriting it so it hasn't been a concern. So what I'm wondering is, since I've yet to copywrite these tunes, and since there are a few missing bits here and there, can I copywrite a song that is not quite complete? I have received different opinions on this. A music lawyer I know says no, it has to be the same thing as what you're going to record otherwise it's pointless. A lady at the us library of congress(an information officer or something) said that I could do this, but the impression I got from her is that you can send in anything you feel like-but whether it holds in a court of law is another matter. She said as long as it's obvious that it's basically the same song, then it's fine.I don't know if her knowledge covered that specific a question-her job may have been to just answer general information . So to be more specific, I have the melodies set, and about 80 percent of the lyrics. The choruses are set. I have lots of lyrics to choose from, it's just a matter of picking and choosing at the last minute which ones I like the best. On my copywrite tape, which I want to do before I start dropping my demos off, I'm going to sing the parts that are set in stone, then hum the parts where I don't have the lyric yet. For example, the first verse and first chorus are set, but the second verse I'm not sure which lyrics I'm going to use, so I'll just hum the melody.Then I'm going to write down the probable lyrics, as well as an additional verse or two, of 'possible' lyrics I figure I'll pick and choose from. Does anyone have any thoughts on this approach? Although I plan on recording electric I'm going to do the copywrite tape with just an acoustic and a vocal. Is this advisable or should I have more of an 'arrangement' on it. Sorry to be longwinded. Appreciate your thoughts
 
The song needs to be copyrighted in its finished form...this doesn't mean that it can't be arranged differently by you later..unless you're planning on stealing from yourself...words and phrases by themselves are not copyrightable...even from manuscripts for novels/etc there is a fine line between plagiarism and copyright infringement...so it's important to have everything as together as possible to copyright a finished product, to show your intent in the creation. Song titles are not copyrightable...there are hundreds of songs with the same names....yer lawyer friend knows best...gibs
 
This is just to confirm what Gibs said...
He's correct.

Sending in an incomplete song is trouble in the making.
Think of it this way...
There are litarally "millions" of songs out there. Your incompleted song could be very similar to many other tunes if it is copyrighted without the final touches that would make it unique from the other "similar" songs. That could leave you wide open for lawsuits from other artists who claim that you stole thier work, and then made minor changes later, in order to differentiate it from thier material.

......... Gibs, Buck, and Associates
...........Non-Attorneys at Law :)
 
Thanks for your reply. This makes me think that a great many successful artists don't copyright their tunes until they've recorded the record. I think a lot of people don't settle on the final lyrics until the very last minute. I've heard so many singers say that so it must be very common. I just figured I'd feel a little more secure if I could c/r my tunes now. I'm still wondering who to ask to get the final word on this. Just to recap: at the U.S. copyright office I was told that I can do this-enclose extra lyrics lines or an extra verse of lyrics where it would be obvious that I put them into the final song. I would hum the melody of the line that was incomplete-and simply use a line from the 'extra' lyrics in the final recording. As I see it, the melody would be copyrighted. It would be like Michael Kamen sending Bryan Adams the music to the Robin Hood soundtrack song Everything I do. He sent Adams a tape in the mail with a piano playing the melody and asked him to put lyrics to it. So if I had most of a song done, with the exception of two lyric lines from the second verse, let's say, and the lines that I'd eventually use are included with some other possible ones, then I think that would be evidence right there that it was my own creation. It's kind of like when you're reading along to the lyrics of someone's album, there is an occasional 'extra' verse of words. Thanks everyone for your opinions-as I said before, I talked to one lawyer who said I couldn't do this, but at the US Copyright office they say I can. Very interesting...
 
I'm sure this is not the safest way to protect your work but since it's not completed yet anyway I would record what I had on tapes and send them registered mail to myself. It will be postmarked so don't open the package just keep it in a safe place. Plus isn't there a fee for copyrighted songs? Save the bucks because in the end even with copyrights your case is only as good as your lawyers.

It seems to me parts of song are copyrightable since in the George Harrison legal case he had to pay for the 3 or 4 melody notes that went along with the lyric "My Sweet Lord". The melody was judged to be the "hook" , therefore integral, part of the song.

Rusty K
 
Gibs and Buck & associates got me 3.1 MILLION DOLLARS!


:D I just realized that may or may not be funny depending on what part of the country you live in. Damn...
 
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