There's a lot of confusion about how to copyright songs and music. Copyright laws in the U.S. (and most other countries) are fairly simple.

U.S. copyright laws say that, technically, a song or music is copyrighted the moment the author puts it into physical form.

So the confusion is really over what purpose or effect registering or filing your songs with the Copyright Office has.

And what's the answer to the question of "How to copyright songs"?

File with the Copyright Office?   File with a private copyright registration company such as SongRegistration.com)?

Is one better than the other?   Or should I do both?

The simple answer is that either way can protect your songs by making a public record of when you submitted them.  Repeat: EITHER WAY.

In other words, whether you file with the Copyright Office, or SongRegistration.com, either way registers your copyright - so you can use that as proof later on - but neither creates your copyright!

So register your song copyrights by filing with the Copyright Office (it's about $45 per mail submission, plus filling out the proper forms, then you'll get the paperwork back in 4-6 months usually).

Or... you can register your songs with an independent song registration service such as SongRegistration.com (it'll take about 10 minutes since there's just one simple online form and you get your paperwork by email in 2 days or less).

Either can protect you should there be a copyright dispute in the future.

So here's what many of our clients suggest:

They first register ALL their songs with SongRegistration.com since it's cheaper and quicker.   Then... if they ever need to file a copyright lawsuit in the U.S., before filing the actual paperwork they also register that particular song in dispute with the Copyright Office – and then use the dated declarations and documentation from SongRegistration.com as evidence in court!

That way, they save time, hassle and money by not having to initially register everything with the Copyright Office!

For more information (or to get our Free Copyright Info Kit), please return to our home page.

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