Sorry, but it really irks us to keep reading these know-it-all "expert songwriters" who say "Don't bother registering your work, no one will steal it, it'll never happen, waste of money."

What planet do they live on?

The U.S. Department of Justice's Bureau of Statistics verifies that civil copyright infringement cases are on the rise (modern technology makes it so easy to steal stuff nowadays).

There's even a study done by USC School of Law documenting a long list of music copyright fights over the years (to read that CLICK HERE).

But there's a good reason why most people haven't heard much about specific private cases:

Unless you win your lawsuit (meaning you took precautions to register your stuff), chances are you'll never even be able to talk about it later. Because you're almost always slapped with a restraining order - or threat of one - prohibiting the disclosure of your side of the story (since that could "defame" a star if you can't prove he or she stole your work).

And the argument that "it's usually just a wannabe suing a superstar for a quick settlement" is ludicrous. Sure, there are con artists around. But wouldn't you think that a nobody claiming a star took their material would be the most likely scenario for a copyright infringement case? Why bother suing someone if nothing came of what they stole from you? It's almost ALWAYS going to be a nobody suing a somebody (or a somebody suing another somebody)!

Nobody ever pursues a copyright infringement case over something that fizzled.

And if it IS the most common scenario of a nobody suing a somebody, that somebody is ALWAYS going to claim "Oh, they're just suing me because I'm famous." Even if they really did hear that riff of yours in a club, or on the Internet, or recorded on a friend's cell phone...

BECAUSE THERE'S ALMOST NO CHANCE YOU'LL WIN IF YOU HAVEN'T TAKEN PRECAUTIONS TO REGISTER YOUR SONG!

So take those that say "Why bother, it's a waste of money, it'll never happen" with a grain of salt. Maybe they don't write anything worth stealing. But anyone sticking one's head in the sand like that deserves whatever they get.

There wouldn't be any copyright infringement lawsuits if it never happened.

So register your songs SOMEWHERE. Use the Copyright Office. Use SongRegistration.com. We'd even rather see you use one of our competitors than take NO precautions at all!

It only takes one song one time to really ruin your day (or potential career).

Happy songwriting!


For more tips on songwriting, go to our Blog or Facebook pages (linked at the bottom of any of our main pages).