Copyright on original music??

Paint a Picture....

can someone tell me how u copyright ur original stuff?? i been told u can record it, put it on cd, send it to urself and keep it unopened, the date on the pastage stamp will be enough to prove that its your original material??

exhausted

http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ50.html

stonetemplejam

You automatically have copy write when you record you music and put it on cd or some other form like tape. Thing is you will want to have proof that it was recorded at a certain time. You need to have a second party to verify that it is copy writed at a certain time. You best bet is filing with the library of congress. Thus use the site mentioned above. It cost money to file. It takes several months to be processed before you will receive you copy write documentation. You want to get tracking numbers and pickup confirmation when you mail in your cd for copywrite to the library of congress. That way you can say that it was recieved and have evidence and proof of the date received.

The mailing in the envelope thing is not recommended it is not good if you ever have to go to court. It is too easy to fake a u.s. postal date on an envelope. It may not hold up in court.

It is cheaper to copywrite the whole cd at once rather then a few songs at a time.

brain of c

stonetemplejam wrote:

You automatically have copy write when you record you music and put it on cd or some other form like tape. Thing is you will want to have proof that it was recorded at a certain time. You need to have a second party to verify that it is copy writed at a certain time. You best bet is filing with the library of congress. Thus use the site mentioned above. It cost money to file. It takes several months to be processed before you will receive you copy write documentation. You want to get tracking numbers and pickup confirmation when you mail in your cd for copywrite. That way you can say that it was recieved and have evidence and proof of the date received.

The mailing in the envelope thing is not recommended it is not good if you ever have to go to court. It is too easy to fake a u.s. postal date on an envelope. It may not hold up in court.

It is cheaper to copywrite the whole cd at once rather then a few songs at a time.

mail it to yourself. then it's postmarked with a date.

harrisonmerwin

DO NOT MAIL IT TO YOURSELF.

If you take the hours, days, weeks to record, go through the same process for your legal rights. Go through your Federal Copyright Group, and i get it done the right way. Also make sure if you are a band, the song is split up correctly. Just remember, if you put the time into writing, recording, performing, why cheap out on owning. Do it the right way, and avoid the possibility of someone fruading your material.

Paint a Picture....

harrisonmerwin wrote:

DO NOT MAIL IT TO YOURSELF.

If you take the hours, days, weeks to record, go through the same process for your legal rights. Go through your Federal Copyright Group, and i get it done the right way. Also make sure if you are a band, the song is split up correctly. Just remember, if you put the time into writing, recording, performing, why cheap out on owning. Do it the right way, and avoid the possibility of someone fruading your material.

Inspirational stuff harrison!!-) and awesome advice, thank you.

stonetemplejam

Yeah I agree you should spend the money and do it the right way. Think about it you may have spend thousands of dollars in a studio recording the songs why not protect your self.

Paint a Picture....

stonetemplejam wrote:

Yeah I agree you should spend the money and do it the right way. Think about it you may have spend thousands of dollars in a studio recording the songs why not protect your self.

again, awesome advice stone, but you know wot it does stick in the craw a bit to have to give money to the system (again!!!) when it comes to my music, childish idealism maybe i dunno. thinking needed. maybe a thread needed -)

stonetemplejam

http://www.dulynoted.co.uk/?n=rates

Although it may not be as good. One thing I like about this way is that it is quick. If you dont want to wait the several months get get a certificate from the U.S. Copywrite office. It is also cheaper. There is some other sites that do similar stuff. I have not tried this site so I cant tell you how good it is. It looks good to me. I was thinking of doing this one and the offical. That way I could put my songs on the internet as fast as possible and not wait for a offical certificate from the u.s. copywrite office.


For registering a work with duly noted®, you receive the following benefits:

10 years registration of that work at duly noted®.

An emailed certificate of registration with a unique security ID serial number.

In the event of a copyright dispute, duly noted® will, on request, provide a read-only soft-copy of the original uploaded file along with the relevant registration data for you to use as evidence in any litigation proceedings.

iluvcats

brain of c wrote:

mail it to yourself. then it's postmarked with a date.

this does not work in an infringement case

harrisonmerwin

if you get a Lawyer to seal the envelope, verify its contents and thier origins, then sign it. It can work in court. Just go to a property/possesion lawyer and they could probly do it for you. i know for sure that stand in court, and would probly take very little time.

brain of c

mail it to a stranger.

ianvomsaal

It doesn't matter if you mail it to yourself or someone else . . .

That does NOT hold up in court!!!!
I was told this directly by one of the Sony lawyers (I asked him that very question a couple years ago after one of my recording sessions).
The best thing to do is get your work Copyrighted (there is such a thing as Copyright Registration for Musical Compositions).
For starters, just go to that website that exhausted posted. Get the forms you need, then send them in with your music - it costs a few $$, but it's easy - Cheers . . .

- Ian C.T. vom Saal

PJ-Sin

Paint a Picture.... wrote:

can someone tell me how u copyright ur original stuff?? i been told u can record it, put it on cd, send it to urself and keep it unopened, the date on the pastage stamp will be enough to prove that its your original material??

This doesnt work anymore because someone could just as easily photoshop a date in there now.

Yep, just go to the website mentioned on here and fill out the forms, its not hard.