Apr 02, 2007 09:41 am Here's the site...
www.copyright.gov/
You can save money by copyrighting a whole bunch of your songs as "Collected Works". Otherwise it gets pretty pricey...
Pertaining to Copyrights
Posted on Apr 02, 2007 09:19 am
mclir9
www.witchsmark.com
Member Since: Aug 13, 2006
How exactly would you legally copyright a song?? Is it absolutely necessary?? If we plan on throwing a bunch of CD's out there do we need to copyright our stuff?? If so whats the easiest cheapest way to do this??
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Apr 02, 2007 09:41 am Here's the site...
www.copyright.gov/
You can save money by copyrighting a whole bunch of your songs as "Collected Works". Otherwise it gets pretty pricey...
Apr 02, 2007 09:43 am For just a few dollars to register it with the Library of Congress www.loc.gov/index.html ...or, there are many cases of the "poor man's copyright" (that being mailing it to yourself and leaving the envelope unopened) actually working in court. Also check www.copyright.gov for info.
Technically speaking once it's committed to a recordable medium it's your intellectual property if you can prove the date of creation (timestamp of the recorded file or whatever).
The subject of intellectual property is full of opinions and ideas, and this thread is sure to spark some colorful conversation, it always does.
Apr 02, 2007 10:25 am So technically if I were to burn a song on a CD (which should leave a time and date stamp for the MP3 creation) and then seal the whole thing away with a notorized stamped envelope of the date the envelope was sealed (just extra protection) that should suffice??
Apr 02, 2007 10:50 am In theory, yes, but you will get lots of people saying it won't work, when it actually has before...some people just like to take simple things and complicate them.
It should also be noted I am not a lawyer, that is however, the way I copyrighted my last work. I have the envelope in my fireproof safe with the postal stamp with time and date clearly on it, unopened.
Apr 02, 2007 12:04 pm I am not a lawyer...
From the U.S. Copyright Office:
I’ve heard about a “poor man’s copyright.” What is it?
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.
In other countries, the PMC can be supported.
Also, check out:
www.snopes.com/legal/postmark.asp
It's always best to keep complete copies of your work as it is being created. Keep every revision, dated and stored away. Historical records of the work being created: a journal, diary, each revision you create, recordings, etc...
Apr 02, 2007 02:15 pm I think that provability is the key issue here.
If someone never registeres their work, but keeps their own records of their progress, I'd think that would stand up better in court than just having a registered copyright, but no other documentation.
From what I read, you own the copyright as soon as you write something. It's up to you if you want to register it. A judge will decide if you actually wrote the piece first, compared to somebody else that's profited from it.
so being able to prove it to a judge is very important. Having the cd timestamped from the post office is pretty good proof, so, therefore it would definately help if you ever had to prove that you wrote it.
Having a registered copyright just puts that much more 'legal clout' behind it, seeing as how you joined with a government agency to document your work.
Course all this is moot, if nobody ever steals your work, writes it off as their own, and profits from it.
=/ my .02$us
Apr 02, 2007 03:24 pm I'm taking an artist management class right now, and what was said in class is that the poor man's copyright doesn't work because they say you could always send a non sealed envelope, get the postmark, and then later add the cd and seal the envelope after the fact.
Just what people are saying.
If you want it to be official, just add the little c in the circle copyright sign and follow that with the year and your name or whoever owns the copyright, and that says, this is my copyright.
If you want it to be super official register it with the copyright office.
Apr 03, 2007 09:27 am I'll appologize for the sarcasm up front. I always have a tendency to be sarcastic when it comes to law.
It probably depends on who is stealing your music. If 'they' have money you're in trouble. Lawyers, court costs, etc. He who has most money has best chance in law.
We did copywrite our music. 1. It shows some degree of seriousness. 2. It helps with getting promoted via media outside of the internet. 3. There is at least a mental barrier there saying it is protected. 4. It is the best chance of retaining rights if it comes to litigation.
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