David O

Hi Guys, Good advice.....someone here knows what they're talking about, but I thought maybe I could elaborate. A song if officially copyrighted (NOT COPYWRITTEN....sorry, pet peeve) when it's in tangible form. In other words, when you can hold it in your hand. We register or copyrights so we have document we can take to court in the event of a claim dispute. Mailing it to yourself is very weak. As a songwriter, there are two MAJOR (not only) types of royalties available to you in the US--Mechanical and performance. Record companies are required to pay the Statutory Mechanical Rate (currently 9.1 cents per song) to the writer and publisher for each record they make. If you're signed to the label, they'd like to negotiate this. It's now called a "controlled composition", meaning that as the writer, you control its use. Song royalties, by the way are always divided into two chunks...writer and publisher. You are by default the publisher of your songs unless you choose to assign those rights to someone else. The other big royalty available to you is performance. This is what you earn when your song is performed at a public venue. To get this, you must join a performing rights organization. We have three in the US.....ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC. You can join ASCAP or BMI anytime...SESAC is a little more involved. I lean towards ASCAP....its the oldest and their payment formula makes more sense to me. Your PRO is now licensed to collect royalties on your behalf. The really cool thing is that no matter who records or performs the great song you wrote, these both go to you! Cool, huh?