How do you make a copyright?

Question

My husband has written several songs but we are not sure on how to get them copywritten?

Answer 1

They are copyrighted the instant they were written. But for official copyright, you can either do the "poor man's copyright" and seal copies of them in an envelope and mail them to yourself. The date printed by the postal service on the envelope will prove the date so long as the envelope is sealed. Or you can visit http://www.copyright.gov/ which will give you instructions on the process of getting an official copyright. Songs would fall under the performing arts category.

Answer 2

You don't actually have to - the Copyright law automatically covers any original works - however it is a good idea to include the copyright symbol on any cd's, demos, sheet music etc, along with the date of their creation, because most copyright materials have an expiration date (something like life of the author/artist + 50 years)

If you think there is a risk of copyright infringement or plagiarism, you have to know you can prove to a court of law that you are indeed the author/artist - so its a good idea to have things like original recordings etc you can provide as evidence

Answer 3

all you have to do is be able to prove that they are your original property and when they were created. The old fashion way of doing this is to write down the song, or make a cheapo recording, and mail them to yourself. Do not open and make sure the postmark is clear, then just file them away.