Any original idea that changes into a tangible form becomes
copyrightable. Its author then has the right and authority to own his
creation. This goes for any work in the field of art, literature, design
or research and also music. Any music composed should be written down
every minute from the creation of its first note to the point where
lyrics are completed and the song is sung. Though all this music is to
entertain people, it should still be kept safe from infringers.
Many music composers are reluctant to share their work because they fear
their song might be unlawfully copied. But if a song is registered it
gets protected against plagiarism. As soon as a work is put down in a
tangible form on paper, disk or computer file, it is copyrighted but
registering it is a whole new process.
The United States Copyright Office states, "Copyright is a form of
protection provided by the laws of the United States to the authors of
'original works of authorship'... It is illegal for anyone to violate any
of the rights provided by the copyright law to the owner of the
copyright." The US Copyright office has all these rights on its site and
explains in three steps how to secure the copyright of a sound recording.
The whole process takes six months and a registration fee of $45.
The US Copyright Office method takes a good amount of money and time but
another cheaper, easier and quicker way is the "poor man's copyright".
The owner mails himself a copy of his work and leaves the envelope
unopened. This work is opened only when the owner has to prove his
authority in the court against an alleged work or an infringement. But
this method is doubted by the legal authorities because deception is very
easy in this method. The owner can even mail himself an unsealed envelope
hence change as much content as he wants to. Therefore this method of
copyright is not as reliable as the US Copyright Office method.
A new form of "poor man's copyright" is posting your song recording or
lyrics to websites as Echoboost.com. But these websites came up with no
information on their back up therefore, they are not as reliable either.
Don Pass, man and a music business attorney and author says, "You don't
need to register the copyright in Washington, but it is a nice piece of
evidence. If someone claims he wrote the song on such-and-such date, and
you can prove you wrote it before that; then it helps."
copyright uk Provides copyright service in UK to protect your legal work.
For more information about copyright law feel free visit here:
"copyright.co.uk"