Members Galadriel Posted July 5, 2004 Members Share Posted July 5, 2004 Originally posted by BryanMichael Um-why not just do it legitimately? Sit down and play your acoustic and sing as many songs as you can, record them. Send the recording and lyric sheets to the US Copyright office with the forms you can get online for free and a 15.00 registration fee and then they are legally copyrighted. NO need for all that Mickey Mouse mailing or bank account stuff that isn;t even a legal copyright- just fill out a freakin' form! You can copyright an entire collection of songs as ONE work (one fee) and then ALL the songs are protected...legally!It's cheap and easy and it's the real deal.B Actually it's $30 now Office of Copyright Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TheMountainKing Posted July 7, 2004 Members Share Posted July 7, 2004 Anyone has a clue how to copyright properly in Germany, where to do it and how much it costs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ryant Posted July 7, 2004 Members Share Posted July 7, 2004 Originally posted by psyckomusic The "Poor Man's Copyright" was never and will never be legit...as someone earlier posted...it will not stand up in a court of law....and since the whole copyright issue is a legal one, the only way to do it is through the Library of Congress....I have copyrighted many songs/works and feel very safe and secure that they are protected....Now another issue is an issue of similarity....for example, Dream Theatre just released a new LP, and their single has the same chord structure/progression/sound/feel (you name it) as a song I wrote 2-3 years ago and I am personally involved with my attorney to see what should come about of it...probably, there is nothing I can do....BUT, nonetheless, worth a try..... you know they probally never even heard this song you wrote 2 - 3 years ago, so why see if you can attack them? they didnt do anything wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Taurus Junkie Posted July 23, 2004 Members Share Posted July 23, 2004 I have registered all of my songs, and hold copyrights. I had an experience where I walked into a club and some other band was playing my song. My thought is that if they lack the talent to write good music, at least they know who to steal from...lol After their set, I advised them of the incorrect modulation after the bridge, and how to count the change between the first verse and the second...lol. I had fun with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BlueStrat Posted July 24, 2004 Members Share Posted July 24, 2004 Originally posted by Commander The simplest method to protect your copyright in a piece is to burn it to a CD and mail it to yourself using registered post (or whatever the US equivalent is). When it arrives and you have signed for it don't open it but keep it in a safe place. The postmark and signature act as proof of date. Another way is to open a bank account, ask for a security box facility, and deposit your CDs there. Each time you deposit a CD the name of the song can be logged with the bank along with the date of deposit. Again, this acts as proof. The third method is to get a lawyer and leave everything to him, but this is the most expensive. Alternatively, once you have a publishing deal everything goes through the publisher anyway. They will have their own legal department to deal with any problems arriving from copyright issues.Good luck! This is all so wrong on so many levels. Mailing yourself material and not opening it is not proof that you wrote it, only proof that you had a copy of it before someone else did. Ditto the safe deposit box idea. It doesn't prove you wrote it, and these things have been shot down in court. Lawyer? Why? You can do it yourself, either as a collection or as individual songs, through the US copyright office. FWIW, legally anything produced in a format ready for public consumption (i.e. written, recorded or painted) is already legally copyrighted material. A formal copyright merely records it. For more info, go to the US copyright office webpage.http://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-general.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fuzzball Posted July 24, 2004 Members Share Posted July 24, 2004 This is simple and cheap, pile your stuff onto a CD and fill out the paper work then send the money. Easy. If you need more go to google and type copy right in the searh and click on the government link that you will find, I can't remember the exact address. Follow the simple instructions and downlaod the adobe form that you need to fill out. Simple and effective. Unfortunatly if may take around 5-6 months to get you copyright proof back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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