how do you copyright a piece of music or song by yourself? How much does it cost?

Question

I am working on recording some instrumentals/ songs with my friends, but we might not release the C.D. for finicial reasons. However, we want to copyright our stuff incase we hand out demo C.D.s. How do go about doing it?!
Any info is appreciated

Answer 1

You can do this at the US Copyright Office – see the last 3 links in the source box. The application is fairly simple & the cost is $45 per application.

Despite what others state, a "poor man's" copyright is NOT the same as registering it. Here's what the US Copyright Office has to say:

"The practice of sending a copy of your own work to yourself is sometimes called a 'poor man’s copyright.' There is no provision in the copyright law regarding any such type of protection, and it is not a substitute for registration."

Hope that helps! I wish you much success & happiness in all your ventures!

Answer 2

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Difficulty: Easy
There have been a lot of problems lately with people stealing and posting things on the Internet. The (incorrect) assumption is that anything on the Web is public domain. Creators of all types are learning to protect themselves by making it clear that their work is copyrighted: A copyright protects an artist, publisher or writer from unauthorized copying of his or her work - including song lyrics.
Instructions

STEP 1: Write your lyric and put it in a tangible form - on paper, sheet music, computer disk or audiotape. You can't copyright an idea that is still in your head.
STEP 2: Recognize that anything written after April 1, 1989, is automatically protected (in the United States) by an assumed copyright. If you don't transfer the copyright to someone else, it will last 70 years past your date of death.
STEP 3: Register with the U.S. Copyright Office so that you can more easily collect damages if your work is copied. This also provides public notice.
STEP 4: Use the U.S. Copyright Office's PA form to register a song. Use its SR form to register published and unpublished sound recordings.
STEP 5: Expect to pay a nonrefundable fee for registration. The current charge is $30.
STEP 6: Include a copyright notice at the end of your work. The proper format is: Copyright or ©, year of first publication of the work, author's name: © 2000 John Doe or Copyright 2000 John Doe.