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Copyright Protection
or as I like to call it >
Safe Songwriting
The following copyright information was
obtained from the book "Songwriter's Market" published by Writer's Digest
Books, 1507 Dana Ave., Cincinnati OH 45207. This is a wonderful book for
Songwriters and I recommend it highly.
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Copyright protection is extended to your songs
(or
lyrics) the instant they are put down in fixed form (for
example, written down on paper
and/or recorded on Tape, CD or
Digital Medium). This protection lasts for your lifetime (or the
lifetime of the last surviving author, if you co-wrote the song) plus 70
years. When you prepare demos, (OR lyric sheets, in the case of lyrics
only) place
"notification of copyright" on all copies
of your song or lyrics- the lyrics sheets, music lead sheets
and C.D.
and/or
other
kinds of Digital Format.
The copyright notice is a small c with a circle around it,
© followed by the year
2018, and
your name,
example > © 2018 YOUR NAME.
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When Is A Song Protected?
The Copyright Law of the United States provides a variety of
legal rights and protection to the creator of an original work of
authorship. For your songs, then, it is important to understand the meaning
of originality and what constitutes a work of authorship.
Originality for a song simply requires that you create
original music and lyrics. If you create original lyrics alone or original
music alone, these can be separately protected under the copyright law. To
be original, your music and lyrics must not have been substantially copied
from any other song that is protected by copyright and must also contain
some degree of novelty or distinctiveness. As to what is substantial
copying, juries and judges determine that on a case-by-case basis. There are
no maximum or minimum numbers of notes, words, or musical bars that may or
may not be copied. If you think you may be copying someone else's work,
don't do it!
As long as you have not substantially copied lyrics or music
from a protected song, it is not really difficult to meet the originality
criteria for copyright. Be aware, however, that if you create a distinctive
melody line with lyrics that include nothing more than a repetition of the
same two words throughout the song (for example, "Let's Dance! Let's
Dance!"), those lyrics will not be protected by the copyright law unless
someone uses them with the same melodic notes and rhythm contained in your
song.
For your creation to be considered a work of authorship,
there must be an expression of your original musical or lyrical creation
that has been fixed in tangible form. This simply means that a mere idea for
a song (such as one about two next-door neighbors who fall in love)
will not be protected until actually expressed with specific lyrics and
music embodied in some medium of recorded expression (for example,
written down on paper and/or recorded on Tape, CD or Digital Medium).
Even when expressed in tangible form, however, titles, phases, and
other short expressions are not protected by copyright, so don't attempt to
register and protect two lines of lyrics or a few bars of music as a
separate work of authorship.
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Remember that your song is protected under the copyright
laws immediately upon its fixation in tangible form (for example,
written down on paper and/or recorded on Tape, CD or Digital Medium).
Formal registration in Washington D.C. only provides additional
evidence of your claim and makes available to you certain other legal
procedural advantages if you sue someone for copying
(infringing)
your work.
The term (duration) of copyright protection is for the life
of the author plus seventy years (in the case of songs created by two or
more songwriters, this is marked from the death of the last surviving
writer).
IN SUMMARY
When you create a lyric
(or song)
and put it
down in some fixed or tangible form
(as in written words on
a piece of paper, on
Tape,
CD, or on a
computer file) it is a property that you own, and is automatically
protected by copyright.
Below is my own humble opinion on so-called Copyright
Infringement.
People just don't go around stealing other peoples songs and
lyrics unless it was recorded by Michael Jackson
(or some other hugely
successful recording artist) and it turns into a big hit. Then every
Tom, Dick, Harry and Sally seem to come out of the woodwork insisting that
they wrote Michael's hit way back in 1974. 99.9% of these people lose
their cases because they have nothing to back up their claims.
For a GREAT article on Copyright > 10 Big Myths about copyright
explained
Click Here
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