Posted: 25 December 2004 at 1:38pm | IP Logged

Hi all

Merry Christmas.

If anyone wants to copyright their material I have just come accross an interesting site that may benefit you. It's easy to use, all you do is upload your material and it's done.

Check it out here https://www.songprotector.com/

I have used this service and find it excellent.

Posted: 25 December 2004 at 2:49pm | IP Logged

Thanks Woodster,

Interesting yes, but "songprotector" only protects your song(s) for 5 years.  What happens after? From glancing at their site, I have copied their statement,

"As stated above, copyright is in place as soon as the work is created. The problem arises when trying to prove that you wrote it at that time. SongProtector simply provides proof that you own the copyright.
We advise that you are cautious when looking at other services that appear to offer copyright protection".

I would suggest that if anyone wanting to protect their works (lyrics or/and music/ audio recording to the

"US Congress Library in Washington, DC"

http://www.loc.gov/          

(once there, click on the US Copyright Office)

It is through my experience and researched knowledge that this is the BEST form of copyright!

WHAT IS COPYRIGHT?

Copyright is a form of protection provided by the laws of the United States (title 17, U.S. Code) to the authors of “original works of authorship,” including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works. This protection is available to both published and unpublished works. Section 106 of the 1976 Copyright Act generally gives the owner of copyright the exclusive right to do and to authorize others to do the following:

• To reproduce the work in copies or phonorecords;

• To prepare derivative works based upon the work;

• To distribute copies or phonorecords of the work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by rental, lease, or lending;

• To perform the work publicly, in the case of literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and motion pictures and other audiovisual works;

• To display the copyrighted work publicly, in the case of literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and pictorial, graphic, or sculptural works, including the individual images of a motion picture or other audiovisual work; and

• In the case of sound recordings, to perform the work publicly by means of a digital audio transmission.

WHO CAN CLAIM COPYRIGHT

Copyright protection subsists from the time the work is created in fixed form. The copyright in the work of authorship immediately becomes the property of the author who created the work. Only the author or those deriving their rights through the author can rightfully claim copyright.

HOW LONG COPYRIGHT PROTECTION ENDURES

Works Originally Created on or after January 1, 1978

A work that is created (fixed in tangible form for the first time) on or after January 1, 1978, is automatically protected from the moment of its creation and is ordinarily given a term enduring for the author's life plus an additional 70 years after the author's death. In the case of "a joint work prepared by two or more authors who did not work for hire," the term lasts for 70 years after the last surviving author's death. For works made for hire, and for anonymous and pseudonymous works (unless the author's identity is revealed in Copyright Office records), the duration of copyright will be 95 years from publication or 120 years from creation, whichever is shorter.

Works Originally Created before January 1, 1978, But Not Published or Registered by That Date

These works have been automatically brought under the statute and are now given federal copyright protection. The duration of copyright in these works will generally be computed in the same way as for works created on or after January 1, 1978: the life-plus-70 or 95/120-year terms will apply to them as well. The law provides that in no case will the term of copyright for works in this category expire before December 31, 2002, and for works published on or before December 31, 2002, the term of copyright will not expire before December 31, 2047.

HOW TO SECURE A COPYRIGHT

Copyright Secured Automatically upon Creation

The way in which copyright protection is secured is frequently misunderstood. No publication or registration or other action in the Copyright Office is required to secure copyright. (See following Note.) There are, however, certain definite advantages to registration. See "Copyright Registration."

Copyright is secured automatically when the work is created, and a work is "created" when it is fixed in a copy or phonorecord for the first time. "Copies" are material objects from which a work can be read or visually perceived either directly or with the aid of a machine or device, such as books, manuscripts, sheet music, film, videotape, or microfilm. "Phonorecords" are material objects embodying fixations of sounds (excluding, by statutory definition, motion picture soundtracks), such as cassette tapes, CDs, or LPs. Thus, for example, a song (the "work") can be fixed in sheet music (" copies") or in phonograph disks (" phonorecords"), or both.

If a work is prepared over a period of time, the part of the work that is fixed on a particular date constitutes the created work as of that date.

WHO MAY FILE AN APPLICATION FORM?

The following persons are legally entitled to submit an application form:

• The author. This is either the person who actually created the work or, if the work was made for hire, the employer or other person for whom the work was prepared.

• The copyright claimant. The copyright claimant is defined in Copyright Office regulations as either the author of the work or a person or organization that has obtained ownership of all the rights under the copyright initially belonging to the author. This category includes a person or organization who has obtained by contract the right to claim legal title to the copyright in an application for copyright registration.

• The owner of exclusive right(s). Under the law, any of the exclusive rights that make up a copyright and any subdivision of them can be transferred and owned separately, even though the transfer may be limited in time or place of effect. The term "copyright owner" with respect to any one of the exclusive rights contained in a copyright refers to the owner of that particular right. Any owner of an exclusive right may apply for registration of a claim in the work.

• The duly authorized agent of such author, other copyright claimant, or owner of exclusive right(s). Any person authorized to act on behalf of the author, other copyright claimant, or owner of exclusive rights may apply for registration.

There is no requirement that applications be prepared or filed by an attorney.

APPLICATION FORMS   (all these forms and instruction sheet can be downloaded from the US Copyright website)

For Original Registration

Form PA:	for published and unpublished works of the performing arts (musical and dramatic works, pantomimes and choreographic works, motion pictures and other audiovisual works)
Form SE:	for serials, works issued or intended to be issued in successive parts bearing numerical or chronological designations and intended to be continued indefinitely (periodicals, newspapers, magazines, newsletters, annuals, journals, etc.)
Form SR:	for published and unpublished sound recordings
Form TX:	for published and unpublished nondramatic literary works
Form VA:	for published and unpublished works of the visual arts (pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works, including architectural works)
Form G/DN:	a specialized form to register a complete month's issues of a daily newspaper when certain conditions are met
Short Form/SE and Form SE/GROUP:	specialized SE forms for use when certain requirements are met
Short Forms TX, PA, and VA:	short versions of applications for original registration. For further information about using the short forms, request publication SL-7.
Form GATT and Form GATT/GRP:	specialized forms to register a claim in a work or group of related works in which U. S. copyright was restored under the 1994 Uruguay Round Agreements Act (URAA). For further information, request Circular 38b.

REGISTRATION PROCEDURES

Original Registration

To register a work, send the following three elements in the same envelope or package to:

Library of Congress
Copyright Office
101 Independence Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20559-6000

(Music Registration)

1. A properly completed application form.
2. A nonrefundable filing fee of $30 for each application.
3. Send combination or all a) Sheet music/composition, b) sound recording, c) lyrics 

I hope this long topic is helpful to others.

Best of Luck!

Mary

Posted: 25 December 2004 at 10:36pm | IP Logged

Nice one,

Well after the 5 years you recieve an email to let you know that the time is nearly up, you can then pay again for a further 5 years. it's up to you.

But having a song copyrighted for 5 years I think is enough if you are performing it and or it is being used on a comercial basis. Once it's down on disc and you've gone through PRS etc. then this will take over from the original copyright.

I think this is a great way to just quickly copyright your material, whilst going through any other route. you can of course just put it down on disc and add the lyrics in writting and post it back to yourself via registerd post. You then have to make sure that the material is then stored safely so what, god forbid, if you have a fire, flood or are subject to theft, then you will have a problem if someone else starts using it and says that they wrote it.

This way it's away from your property and kept safely on 2 servers, if one should crash then the other is there to back it up. I think the price they charge is reasonable to have this piece of mind, after all if you send it registerd post back to yourself it's going to cost nearly the same amount as what they will charge you. 

The information you provided is excellent, trouble is it's for the USA and we have different laws here in the UK and the EEC.

Posted: 26 December 2004 at 1:51am | IP Logged

Actually, if you go and read the information on the site that I provided earlier, you will note that there is an area in regards to international copyright which does apply to the UK and other countries. 

Still, I would recommend the US Copyright Office in Washington DC.  I live in Canada and although there are other ways to copyright your materials, The US Congress it the best way to protect your materials.  It is really interesting information for anyone having the time to go through and read.   When I did a search on the website, I did find out that John Lennon, Beatles,,,,etc where also listed.

You will be surprised what you find when you do a search.

Take care,

Mary

:-)