how do u copyright songs???

[Mama's Boy]

does the mailing it to yourself trick work? or what do u do?

[Johnny-Boy]

does the mailing it to yourself trick work? or what do u do?

 

Library of Congress official copyright is the only way to go (unfortunately). If you have several songs, it would save you money to copyright them as a compilation copyright.

 

Here's the official USA Copyright website: http://www.copyright.gov/

 

Best, John

[blue2blue]

Technically, as soon as you write or publish the song you can claim copyright -- it's a common law thing.

 

BUT...

 

The best way to protect that copyright is to register it with the appropriate copyright office. (In the US, most of us would want to use the US Copyright office, listed in Johnny's post above.)

 

You can register a number of songs as part of a collective work -- but it's very important that you file the additional paperwork to include each individual title that's included. (IIRC, it's a couple bucks extra per song.)

 

They WERE supposed to start online registration in August of this year -- but it looks like -- as with so much of the federal government in this young century -- the incompentents, nabobs, and political appointees have been running the show -- and, as is usually the case, these days -- they've been running it into the ground.

 

Their FAQ still says:

Can I file online?   Not at the moment. Online registration is among the goals of the Copyright Office