if i write my own songs-how do i copyright them????

Question

want to make sure nobody gets their filthy paws on my masterpieces!!help please-thanks guys-by the way its music for children

Answer 1

The legal position is that if you wrote them then you ALREADY own the copyright.

The practical position is that you need to both assert your right and be able to prove your authorship.

To assert your right, always put "by Your Name" everywhere you right them down, and (c) Your Name 2006 on every printed copy. If you have a notebook that you always use you could also write a copyright notice into the front cover. Copy the wording from some recently published novel (something like "JK Rowling asserts her right to be identified as the author of this book" if I recall). Make this kind of stuff a habit, even if it feels cheesy to do it.

Proving your authorship is only important if one day it gets contested. For example, George Harrison, My Sweet Lord, was supposed to be based on identical chord changes and melody to something else, and they fought over it in court. Don't know who won, but if Harrison had had a notebook countersigned and dated on the relevant page by someone independent, and that date was before the other record came out, he could have shown that his own song was his own creation and not a ripoff.

This is not foolproof. There are other, probably better ways and this is where lawyers are useful. Buy one a beer (you're a musician, you can't afford their fees!)

Answer 2

A couple of the answerers were correct in that upon creation they are copywrited today. This however will not protect your work from theft.

The cheap way is the poor man's copywrite. You send yourself a registered letter/package with a copy of the relivent works. Store this in a really safe place where temp is kept between 60 and 80 F and is protected from vibrations, moisture or anything else that can damage the CD.

The Library of Congress is for registering finished works. It is a slow process full of errors and last time I used it cost $35 a piece for the process. They also lost one of my two compilations.

Having your work played in a public which is a member of ASCAP will make you eligible for membership in ASCAP and you can copywrite your works through them.

With music copywrites work on groups of 3. If your progressions never repeat three times then any copywrite infringment on a partial piece of your song is impossible. Most bridges are like this, intro's often come under this heading. One way around this is to copywrite the "long edition" which does repeat 3 times all sections and then have your normal tune which is for listeners which doesn't.

If you use a common chord progression it is nearly impossible to copywrite. 3 chord melodies in particuler. More so the odds are good somebody else has used those same three chords with that same strum before. So don't stress over 3 chord sections. Nobody can sue you over them and you can't sue them over them.

Answer 3

HOW TO SECURE A COPYRIGHT
Copyright Secured Automatically upon Creation

The way in which copyright protection is secured is frequently misunderstood. No publication or registration or other action in the Copyright Office is required to secure copyright. (See following Note.) There are, however, certain definite advantages to registration. See "Copyright Registration."

Copyright is secured automatically when the work is created, and a work is "created" when it is fixed in a copy or phonorecord for the first time. "Copies" are material objects from which a work can be read or visually perceived either directly or with the aid of a machine or device, such as books, manuscripts, sheet music, film, videotape, or microfilm. "Phonorecords" are material objects embodying fixations of sounds (excluding, by statutory definition, motion picture soundtracks), such as cassette tapes, CDs, or LPs. Thus, for example, a song (the "work") can be fixed in sheet music (" copies") or in phonograph disks (" phonorecords"), or both.

If a work is prepared over a period of time, the part of the work that is fixed on a particular date constitutes the created work as of that date.

http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ1.html#hsc

Answer 4

Poor Mans Copyright first and best is to send them to yourself vis USPS and Don't open the envelope. This way if someone steals your song you have a dated copy inside the envelope. You can also do this with CD's and it is best to include the liricks. I too am a singer/songwriter and I have had material stolen from me-but I never heard it played. It's a precaution prior to hitting the copy right office straight-up.

Answer 5

I can't say how to legally copywright but I have heard of people sealing the item in an envelope and mailing it to themselves. This gets the postmark on the envelope, just make sure you don't open it. That will keep your rights to it safe until you figure out how to copywright. Then, if someone does try to jack you, you can present the sealed-postmarked envelpe with the music in it.

Answer 6

well there is a couple of different ways. my boyfriend got a form off the internet at the library of congress website. you fill the form out and send it in along with a cd, tape, or lyrics of your music. then they will send you something back stating that it is copywritten. another way i heard you can do it is called a poor mans copywrite. basically you take a copy of the tape or cd or lyrics and mail them to yourself. When it arrives to you, do not open it! it will have the date on the outside of the envelope and you can just keep it somewhere safe until you use it.

Answer 7

a friend of mine once said you can mail them to yourself, but not to open the envelope when you recieve it. just put it away for a latter day just in case someone gets thier filthy paws on them. i think it has something to do with the postmark. thats the cheap way to do it anyway.

Answer 8

you can do a poor man copyright by putting your original with the exact date in an self addressed stamped envelope and mail it to yourself. Do not open it. If you should ever need to go to court, present it to the judge and let them see that you have the original with the government stamped date by the post office :)

Answer 9

A really cheap way (not sure about the legalities) is to post yourself a copy. Make sure the envelope is properly sealed (use wax if you can get it!) and the postmark becomes your proof of date.

Good luck!

Answer 10

ok a million. Drake IS Aubrey Graham. 2. while they checklist different persons like Matthew Samuels, Nick Brongers, and Noah "40" Shebib, those are purely the those that produced the song itself, no longer the lyrics. a number of those human beings mixed the song to make the beats and what no longer... so a good distance as Drake no longer writing ALL of his song, that is authentic (i do no longer placed something previous human beings presently).. yet I heavily doubt it