COPYRIGHT - TOO MUCH FUN WITH FEDERAL FORMS
By huskybones
(In a George W. Bush voice.)
"My fellow American musicians, let me talk to you about your government. In addition to protecting you from foreign enemies, the financial liabilities of old age, and hearing any dirty words on TV, we have provided a way to protect your ideas. Your creations can be registered with the Library of Congress and stored for future reference. If you find that someone has stolen your Great Idea, than you'll have some evidence on your side when you walk into that courtroom. And like many of our top ranking officials these days, I know a lot about litigation".
Seriously though, our government has provided a fairly easy way to protect our musical ideas by way of the Copyright Office in the Library of Congress. Keep in mind that going through the copyright procedure doesn't keep someone from "stealing" your idea. I mean it's just a piece of paper. But by filing a copyright form you are making a public claim to that idea that could help you make your case later. Please keep in mind that I am not an attorney, I'm just the bass player. The information below is just to outline the basic procedure. Call the copyright office if you have other questions.
Here are some things you need to know:
Music and lyrics
are copyright-able. Song titles and band names are not. See tradename
/trademark regarding band names.
The fee to file
the registration form is $20 each. The two forms we're interested in are
Form PA for the songs themselves and Form SR for the actual recording.
Other information from Circular 4 (fees) and Circular 1(basic info) may
be useful.
Put your tape and
lyrics, a correctly filled out form, and check for $20 in a big envelope.
Mail it by certified or registered mail and request a return receipt.
Then you'll know that it got there. The circular says that they have about
a 5-month turn around so don't wait by the mailbox. Your deposit (tape
and lyrics) will not be returned so don't send the only copy. Also make
sure your recording, even if it's just a demo, is clear and on a good
quality tape (Hi-Bias, Type II work well)
According to the
law, you're protected from the moment you write down or record your music
and registration is voluntary. But if you're going to be putting your
music out there, take the extra step and register. Copyright protection
is good for the life of the author plus 50 years.
The author is the
creator of the song. The author is also the copyright claimant unless
some other agreement is made (As in with a publisher). All co-authors
listed on the form are considered equal unless there's some sort of other
agreement written up.
A group of unpublished
songs (Like the original songs your group has) can be registered with
one fee and one form. There are some conditions though. First there's
a seven-song limit to your collection. So if you have 10 songs you'll
need to file a second form and pay another $20. The songs must be assembled
in an orderly form and have a single title for the whole collection. An
example would be that you put your songs on one tape and label the tape
"Folk and Eyesouls band-volume 1". You would then put that same label
in the "title of this work " line on the form. Another thing is that the
claimants (people claiming the right to copy) have to be the same on all
the songs in this collection. The authors also have to be the same or
one of the authors has to have contributed to all the songs in the collection.
You can list all of the titles on a separate continuation form and this
is a good idea for future reference. Include clearly written or typed
lyric sheets. The forms come with detailed instructions and the copyright
office will contact you if they need more information.
The notice of copyright has three elements; a little c in a circle, year of publication, and copyright claimant's name. An example would be
1997 Elvis Presley
The copyright office circulars say that a tape isn't a copy and therefore would not get the c notice. However I put this on all tapes that leave my control to show that I've gone through the process. The little 'P' in a circle is the Phonorecord copyright notice. The CD or tape that you release will show both of these.
The addresses and phone numbers to get forms and information are as follows.
And of course the copyright office is on the web.
http://www.loc.gov/copyright/
All the circulars are there, FAQ's, and other information.
There's one last thing. You may be familiar with the "poor man's copyright" procedure. This is where we put a tape of our music in the mail, mail it to ourselves then leave the envelope unopened. This is supposed to prove that the music existed on a certain date. Makes sense and I've done it myself. But according to all the information that I have, registering your music with the copyright office is just better proof that your music existed on a certain date. So don't use this method as a substitute for copyright registration. Take care of your business.
That's it for this time. Gotta go to work and act grown up.
-hb
By huskybones
(In a George W. Bush voice.)
"My fellow American musicians, let me talk to you about your government. In addition to protecting you from foreign enemies, the financial liabilities of old age, and hearing any dirty words on TV, we have provided a way to protect your ideas. Your creations can be registered with the Library of Congress and stored for future reference. If you find that someone has stolen your Great Idea, than you'll have some evidence on your side when you walk into that courtroom. And like many of our top ranking officials these days, I know a lot about litigation".
Seriously though, our government has provided a fairly easy way to protect our musical ideas by way of the Copyright Office in the Library of Congress. Keep in mind that going through the copyright procedure doesn't keep someone from "stealing" your idea. I mean it's just a piece of paper. But by filing a copyright form you are making a public claim to that idea that could help you make your case later. Please keep in mind that I am not an attorney, I'm just the bass player. The information below is just to outline the basic procedure. Call the copyright office if you have other questions.
Here are some things you need to know:
Music and lyrics
are copyright-able. Song titles and band names are not. See tradename
/trademark regarding band names.The fee to file
the registration form is $20 each. The two forms we're interested in are
Form PA for the songs themselves and Form SR for the actual recording.
Other information from Circular 4 (fees) and Circular 1(basic info) may
be useful.Put your tape and
lyrics, a correctly filled out form, and check for $20 in a big envelope.
Mail it by certified or registered mail and request a return receipt.
Then you'll know that it got there. The circular says that they have about
a 5-month turn around so don't wait by the mailbox. Your deposit (tape
and lyrics) will not be returned so don't send the only copy. Also make
sure your recording, even if it's just a demo, is clear and on a good
quality tape (Hi-Bias, Type II work well)According to the
law, you're protected from the moment you write down or record your music
and registration is voluntary. But if you're going to be putting your
music out there, take the extra step and register. Copyright protection
is good for the life of the author plus 50 years.The author is the
creator of the song. The author is also the copyright claimant unless
some other agreement is made (As in with a publisher). All co-authors
listed on the form are considered equal unless there's some sort of other
agreement written up.A group of unpublished
songs (Like the original songs your group has) can be registered with
one fee and one form. There are some conditions though. First there's
a seven-song limit to your collection. So if you have 10 songs you'll
need to file a second form and pay another $20. The songs must be assembled
in an orderly form and have a single title for the whole collection. An
example would be that you put your songs on one tape and label the tape
"Folk and Eyesouls band-volume 1". You would then put that same label
in the "title of this work " line on the form. Another thing is that the
claimants (people claiming the right to copy) have to be the same on all
the songs in this collection. The authors also have to be the same or
one of the authors has to have contributed to all the songs in the collection.
You can list all of the titles on a separate continuation form and this
is a good idea for future reference. Include clearly written or typed
lyric sheets. The forms come with detailed instructions and the copyright
office will contact you if they need more information.The notice of copyright has three elements; a little c in a circle, year of publication, and copyright claimant's name. An example would be
1997 Elvis PresleyThe copyright office circulars say that a tape isn't a copy and therefore would not get the c notice. However I put this on all tapes that leave my control to show that I've gone through the process. The little 'P' in a circle is the Phonorecord copyright notice. The CD or tape that you release will show both of these.
The addresses and phone numbers to get forms and information are as follows.
| For forms: | For Information: |
| Copyright
Office Publications section, LM-455 Library of Congress Washington, DC 20559 (202)707-9100 lv msg or write |
Copyright
Office information section,LM-455 Library of Congress Washington, DC 20559 (202)707-3000 Call early |
And of course the copyright office is on the web.
http://www.loc.gov/copyright/
All the circulars are there, FAQ's, and other information.
There's one last thing. You may be familiar with the "poor man's copyright" procedure. This is where we put a tape of our music in the mail, mail it to ourselves then leave the envelope unopened. This is supposed to prove that the music existed on a certain date. Makes sense and I've done it myself. But according to all the information that I have, registering your music with the copyright office is just better proof that your music existed on a certain date. So don't use this method as a substitute for copyright registration. Take care of your business.
That's it for this time. Gotta go to work and act grown up.
-hb
