Copyright Your Work

So I've made this blog to point out some of the mistakes I've noticed that Musicians make and to share tips. One of the biggest mistakes I've noticed is that they "forget" to copyright their music. I say forget and use it VERY loosely because most Artist don't even think to copyright their music or know they are supposed to. A nice way for me to stress the importance of copyrighting your music is so you know it is yours, and that no one else can use it for a profit without your permission; protect yourself and your intellectual property.

When you copyright your music, you mark it as your own creation. This gives you legal grounds to go after someone who may be making a profit from it without your permission. It also is necessary when you register your music with BMI or ASCAP. They won’t allow you to make money from your music unless you can prove that you hold the copyright. This is not as hard as you might think, but you do have to fill out some paperwork and pay a fee to copyright your music.

Some people like to do this one song at a time, but you can save a lot of time and money if you have a recording of more than one song. Once you've recorded a few tracks you can then copyright your music all at once. Some artists like to submit an entire album at once, and that is always a great idea. If you have just one song, and you don’t know when you might write another, go ahead and copyright your music creations one at a time. Have the lyrics written down also so that you can get it copyrighted - who knows you may have the one catch phrase that everyone wants to bite off of and years from now you can honestly say "I started that" and it's documented.

I don't really suggest Poor Man's Copyright due to the chance of it not holding up in court.

Copyright Info:
*Form PA - performing arts works, including motion pictures
*Form - sound recordings
*$45 payable by check or money order
*must be clear, legible, and on good quality 8.5-inch by 11-inch white paper
*http://www.copyright.gov/