Copyrighting songs...

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comensee41
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Copyrighting songs...

Unread post by comensee41 » Wed Aug 25, 2004 6:09 am

With my band, i have written and recorded around 13 songs, and weve decided its time to start copyrighting our music. Since we are 3 juniors and a sophomore in high school, we dont really know our way in the greater music world. If anybody has had experience with this kind of stuff, please help out!!

Billy
"Come in from the cold for a while...everything will be alright"

MWR
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Unread post by MWR » Wed Aug 25, 2004 4:05 pm

I think the easiest way to copyright something is to send it in the mail to yourself and don't open it. Thats not very official though.

go here:
http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ1.html

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Swe dmbfan
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Unread post by Swe dmbfan » Wed Aug 25, 2004 5:06 pm

not mail!

send a letter to your self, then u got a post stamp and everything! dont open it..
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MWR
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Unread post by MWR » Wed Aug 25, 2004 6:04 pm

Swe dmbfan wrote:not mail!

send a letter to your self, then u got a post stamp and everything! dont open it..
Did I just say that?

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Swe dmbfan
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Unread post by Swe dmbfan » Wed Aug 25, 2004 6:09 pm

bad english! sorry
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DMB2718
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Unread post by DMB2718 » Wed Aug 25, 2004 8:51 pm

I'm also in a high school band. We just came out with our first CD recently and copyrighting with the real copyright agency really is not that expensive and is very simple. It was only 30 dollars to copyright all the tracks on our CD.
http://www.copyright.gov and get the forms you need and send them in.
-David
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jwool
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Unread post by jwool » Thu Aug 26, 2004 3:25 pm

what you describe is commonly referred to as the poor man's copyright. More info here: http://www.copyrightauthority.com/poor-mans-copyright/.

This is NOT acceptable in court. Technically your work is copyrighted the moment you write it down or record it (as long as you can prove it in court), but if you wish to officially register it with the US Copyright Office, all you have to do is fill out a simple 1 page form, enclose a CD with as much material that can fit on it (or send lyric sheets), and mail it to the Library of Congress with a $30 check. In about 6 months, you will receive a letter in the mail that certifies your copyright. I just received my letter a few weeks ago. Just go to http://www.copyright.gov, or do a search for it on the internet. There are 2 forms that you can fill out, one is for the song itself, and one is a performance copyright, that will copyright an actuall performance of the song.

Hope this helps.

Jeff
http://www.jeffwool.com

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