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While you wait... Facts and Info on Song & Music Copyright
What Are Your Rights Under Copyright Law?
Understand the legal protections which attach when your song or music is copyrighted. These rights are known as intellectual property rights and are granted by federal law (and more than 160 countries have treaties honoring each country’s copyright laws). Among these rights is your exclusive right to the music and songs you write. And these protections remain in place for a certain number of years – usually either 50 to 70 years AFTER the original songwriter dies.
The material protected can be pretty much anything original – a beat, a full song, a musical instrumental, just lyrics or a poem. The creator of this original material is granted these exclusive rights to make copies of the music, or distribute and play it, or make new versions (or remixes) of the originals. These rights also include the exclusive right to perform the song or musical piece in front of others and, except for certain situatiions, other people need to get your permission before performing your work in public (one such exception is called the “fair use” exception, when for example someone who is reviewing your work uses a part of it in his or her review -- in that case no permission from you is needed).
Protect songs and music with the leading private copyright registration site. SongRegistration is THE ORIGINAL Song & Music Copyright Site! But just as YOUR copyrighted music material is protected, so is the original work of others! Which means that in most situations you cannot incorporate into your original material a “sample” piece from someone else’s song or music without first getting their permission (and a “license” to use the material). But because copyright law involving “samples” is not always so easily understood – and certain samples may not even be considered samples, always speak with a copyright attorney before trying to use any in your songs or music.
How to Copyright Music
Many people are thoroughly confused over how to copyright songs and music. And just as many aren’t sure whether you even need to get them protected.
As for whether you really need to “copyright” your songs and music, once you understand how copyright works you’ll see that this really isn’t a major issue. WHILE IT'S TRUE YOUR SONGS ARE AUTOMATICALLY COPYRIGHTED AS SOON AS THEY ARE PUT INTO TANGIBLE (physical) FORM, proving that copyright is another matter!
And “tangible form” can be just about anything: Writing them down on paper, recording your music or song onto a CD, or making a video or audio computer file (such as an mp3 file) of them.
So what about your songs and music under copyright law? They are technically copyrighted from the moment they are put into tangible form, without you having to do anything else! No registration with the government is necessary. No mailing copies to yourself. No registering with a third party company is required! As of the moment the original song or music is in physical form, the songwriter becomes the owner of that material and has all the rights we described above! (There is one main exception to this rule and that’s when a person is specifically HIRED to write music or songs for someone else – or for another company. Such people who are “under hire” usually do NOT own the songs they write.)
Much of the confusion over song and music copyright, however, comes from the issue of PROVING that you really wrote the original material and when you wrote it! For example, if there’s a copyright dispute over certain material, it’s usually a question of who wrote the music first.
Which is a good time to bring up the “poor man’s copyright.” Over the years many have heard, or even tried using, this technique as a way of supposedly protecting one’s songs and music. This involves mailing a copy of your songs to yourself and not opening the envelope. The theory is that you can try using the date stamp on the letter as proof of when you wrote the song or music. But the poor man’s copyright does NOT have any legal standing. So we highly recommend AGAINST bothering with it. There a quite a few reasons why this doesn’t offer you any protections: The primary reason is that since you already have an automatic copyright when your music is first put into tangible form, this method doesn’t add a thing to that protection! Another major reason it doesn’t work is because it’s so very easy to tamper with a supposedly-sealed envelope (especially since the post office doesn’t even care if you seal an envelope or not when mailing it). You could peel back the flap, re-seal it, or how do you prove the postmark is authentic. Etc. Etc. Basically, anyone can put any music into an envelope after mailing it to themselves! So forget about the poor man’s copyright.
On the other hand, if you are primarily interested in just having a quick and inexpensive way to maintain believable evidence of when you first composed your music (or put your songs into physical form), then at least register them with an independent, credible third party registration service. This is a cheap and fast way to have proof and a far better way than the “poor man’s copyright” method of showing when you first submitted your songs or lyrics in physical form.
Eventually however, you should register your songs and music with the Copyright Office, whether you do that immediately, or at least shortly after registering them through an independent service. There are several reasons for doing so: First, federal registration grants you certain “statutory” benefits to additional money for attorneys fees if you win your copyright lawsuit, as well as a certain set amount for damages without having to prove what you actually lost. Second, the law requires that before the actual copyright lawsuit is filed in federal court, federal registration is necessary.
In conclusion, first, ALWAYS have a good copyright attorney to consult! And we hope this assists you in getting through the sometimes murky world of song copyright law. Another thing to remember is that even though you get these “exclusive” music rights under the law, that doesn’t mean anyone is out there helping you check to see if your songs are getting stolen! Unless you already have a big name and royalty company on your team, no one is out there “policing” the airwaves or stages of the world to see what’s yours. That’s something that YOU have to do (or your attorney or, if you are already successful, a royalties company).
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Register your song copyrights Instantly! Fast • Low Cost • Worldwide
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PROTECT YOUR SONGS!
Songs get stolen more than you think! Although legally copyrighted as soon as you first put them into physical form, the problem is PROVING your copyright! Which is why registering with an established and well-respected service — such as SongRegistration™ — is so important. So you can enjoy what every artist needs: Peace of mind.
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WHY USE
Our CEO is a licensed attorney with more than 30 years experience managing law firms.* We strongly believe your original music requires this level of expertise! So expect state-of-the-art record-keeping for all your songs and documents, the fastest registration, exceptional customer support, plus a Better Business Bureau A+ rating! |
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REGISTER 1 TO 4 SONGS
Whether you register 1, 2, 3 or 4 songs, it's just $29.95 — as long as you submit them at the same time. It takes just a few minutes and you can upload your songs, send them as attachments or do everything by mail! |
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REGISTER UNLIMITED SONGS
Have a lot of songs to register? Then our Unlimited Plan is for you! Register as many as you like, anytime, for just $99.95 for a year of submissions. And even if you cancel after that, songs already submitted are registered for life!
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Use other sites
at your own risk!
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BEWARE OF SIMILAR SITES!
WARNING: We hear many complaints about sites that try to copy us. The most common are: They offer zero customer support. Or just disappear entirely. Or make false claims that they "copyright" songs. (Not true — copyrights are automatic — we maintain a fixed record of your copyright.)
Some have even stolen language from our website!
Our parent company was established in 1975. We are the ORIGINAL music registration site. So compare our services. And before considering a copy-cat site, ask yourself if it's really worth risking your music.
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FREE COPYRIGHT INFORMATION!
FREE Song Copyright Info Packet!
FREE info on music copyright & our services!
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"I wasted my money on that other 'copyright'
site. Very disappointing. They don't respond to questions. They don't help you.
They just take your money. If you're a serious composer,
SongRegistration is the only real choice!" – R.T.
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Used by songwriters and music publishers in more than 55 countries!
— including the US, Canada, Europe, Asia, Australia
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copyright law recognized in 160+ countries —
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© Copyright 2013 SongRegistration.com - All rights reserved.
* SongRegistration.com™ does not provide legal advice or legal services and registers all songs in its own archives, thereby preserving a dated, fixed record of their tangible form. It is not affiliated, nor registers material, with the Copyright Office, Library of Congress, or any government agency (as this is not required to secure copyright protection), and is not affiliated with any third-party company listed herein. By using this site, you agree to all Terms of Use. For address information, Click Here.
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