As The World Tunes

Copyright

by Steve Bussey
GeoSynchronous Records

Are you ready to release a compact disc with your original songs? Or, are you about to shop some of your songs around to publishers, performers, or others? Then you need to think about registering your copyright of your song.

Copyright is a form of protection under United State laws to the authors of original intellectual creations, including musical, dramatic, literary, and artistic works. You can copyright lyrics, music, statues, movies, books, computer programs, maps, choreography, and more. You can not copyright things like song titles, phrases, slogans, ideas, or works that have not been fixed in a tangible form, such as a dance routine that has not been notated or recorded.

Legally, you have a statutory copyright as soon as you create a new work in fixed form, such as a recording or sheet music. However, you should register your copyright with the U. S. Government to easily prove the date of creation of your song if some one were to try to steal it. (Actually, it is hard enough just to get someone to listen to a song, so it is not very likely that someone will steal it, at least not until you get famous!)

To register your copyright, you will need to file with the Library Of Congress a non-returnable deposit of the work to be registered (such as a tape or sheet music), a non-refundable $20 filing fee, and a properly completed copyright form.

As far as musical compositions and sound recordings go, there are two forms to consider, Form PA and the Form SR. A musical composition includes the lyrics and the music, and is normally registered on a Form PA. It does not include copyright on the actual sound recording itself. That is registered on a Form SR. The Sound Recording we are speaking of here is the musical performance, spoken words, or other sounds recorded, and not the actual musical or lyric content. If you can claim that you wrote the music and lyrics, and it is your performance on the recording, then you can register both the musical composition and sound recording at the same time on Form SR. This is typically the case on an artist selling their own CD's, if they have not signed away their rights to a record label or other party.

You can register more than one song at a time by registering the work as a collection, and save yourself $20 for each additional song. There are some conditions which must be met in order to file as a collection, such as all of the selections must be by the same author. You can have co-authors, but at least one author has to have contributed to each selection (see Circular 56 for full details). You will also want to file a Form CA (Correction / Amplification) to list each individual song, since the basic Form PA or SR will only list the title of the collection.

It can be confusing, but the Copyright Office has various circulars explaining the forms and their use. They also have a Public Information Office telephone with recorded information available 24 hours a day at (202) 707 3000, and you can order the necessary forms by telephone at (202) 707 9100, or download them over the World Wide Web at http://www.loc.gov .

About the author: Steve Bussey is a singer/songwriter/guitarist and is currently the owner and general manager of GeoSynchronous Records (http://www.pan.com/geosync, Listening Line 800 235 9193, ask for a free catalog), an indie label handling artists such as Les Dudek, Mike Pachelli, Bong Water Taffy, and Big Red & The Bus. Prior to this, Steve earned Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Electrical Engineering and Acoustics from Georgia Tech, designed sound equipment and guitar amps for Fender, and supervised design of communication systems for the Space Shuttle at Kennedy Space Center.