Why do I need to copyright my material?
Your creative work is protected by copyright as soon as it is created and "fixed" in a tangible form such as film, a sound recording, etc. However, to fully protect your rights in a court of law, it is vitally important to register your work with the U.S. Copyright Office, which is part of the Library of Congress. Copyright protects your works for your lifetime plus 70 years. If it becomes necessary to sue to protect your rights, you have proof of the originality and authenticity of your work. You must register with the U.S. Copyright office before an infringement suit can be filed, and you risk losing thousands of dollars in damages per infringement (that's each illegal use or copy of a work) if a copyright is not filed.
Can't I just send a CD of my songs to myself in the mail?
While this is a way to establish a date of origin for your work, it does not make the work a matter of public record and does not provide protection under the full strength of the law.
Can I register a number of songs at once as a collection or do I need to spend $30 per song?
You can register a group of songs as a collection and pay one filing fee as long as all the songs in the collection have the same authoring claimants. If different songs were written by different people and you want to indicate this in the copyright authorship, each collection would have to filed separately. For example, if tracks 1-4 were written by X & Y, and tracks 5-8 were written by Y & Z, you would have to submit each group of four songs as separate collections if you wanted to ensure the songwriters were compensated for their specific efforts. Some bands copyright everything as being written collectively, regardless of the actual contributions to any particular track. This way, the copyrighting process is simpler, though the future royalties will be evenly distributed regardless of the actual contribution of any particular member to a particular song. This is something you have to agree to and determine before the copyrighting process is done.
What's the difference between a Form PA and a Form SR?
The Form PA is used to register compositions, including music and lyrics. Form SR is used specifically when you want to copyright a particular recording (e.g. a live recording of previously copyrighted songs). This way, not only is the song protected, but any use of a particular recording is as well.
Should I use both forms? Do I have to pay separate filing fees for each?
Typically, if you are using a sound recording from a rehearsal or even from a studio, a Form PA is used to protect your work. It is only when you are looking to protect a specific recording of a song or a group of songs that you would need a Form SR. If you do want to file a Form SR and a Form PA, you will have to file them separately and will have to pay separate filing fees. If you are copyrighting a body of work for the first time, the Form SR will suffice (it will protect the songs and the recording) as long as the authoring claimant is the same for both.
Do I get confirmation of my copyright?
Legally, your copyright registration date is when U.S Copyright Office received your package with all of the required materials. You have your copyrights in a work the "moment the work is created and is fixed in a tangible form of expression" (i.e. when it is written down or recorded). Registering with the U.S. Copyright Office makes a public record of your claim to copyright in a work and provides you with a legal registration date, which is different from your Creation Date (the date you created the work you are submitting).
What do I need to complete the copyright forms?
- All the songs you want to copyright on a CD, cassette, or printed sheet music.
- A printed copy of the lyrics (if any). [This is recommended, but not necessary.]
- A printer to print the form(s) you are submitting to the U.S. Copyright Office.
- A check (for the government filing fee).
Once the form is completed, you mail it to the Library of Congress, along with the physical copy of your music, lyric sheets, and the check for the filing fee (currently $30).
What if someone quits the band after we've copyrighted our material? Can we change the information on the forms?
No. Once a work is submitted, the claimants have a legal claim on the material. If someone in the band has copyright credits for any particular song, he/she is entitled to songwriting royalties generated by that song regardless of whether or not he/she is in the band at the time. However, if you made a mistake completing the Form PA or SR, you can submit a Form CA (Corrections and Amplifications) to correct the error.
I have an album of material, half of which was copyrighted previously, but the other half is not yet copyrighted. How do I deal with that?
You can either submit the album with Form SR and copyright the work as a sound recording (indicating that some of the material was previously copyrighted), or you can submit the un-copyrighted material as a separate collection.
What if I have a cover song on my album? Can I copyright my version of a song?
Not really. If you want to include a cover song on an album, you need to acquire the licensing rights by going to The Harry Fox Agency (http://www.nmpa.org/hfa.html) and paying the licensing rights for the use of the song.
Collections
How to register two or more unpublished songs as a collection on one form with one fee:
The copyright owner or owners must be the same for all of the songs.
- There must always be at least one author of all of the songs, even if there has been a transfer of ownership.
- The elements of the collection must be assembled in an orderly form.
- The combined elements must bear a single title identifying the collection as a whole.
- The copyright claimant in all the elements and the collection as a whole must be the same.
All of the elements must be by the same author, or, if they are by different authors, at least one of the authors has contributed copyrightable authorship to each element.
If all of the above conditions are not met, you must file a separate application for each original work.
A published collection of musical compositions may be registered with one application and fee if all of the compositions are owned by the same copyright claimant. The entire collection may be registered under the collection title. (Collection information from Circular 50, "Musical Works")
When Filing a Collection, Use a Collection Title: A group of unpublished works registered as a collection must be given a collection title. The individual titles may be listed on a separate Continuation Sheet. The collection title should also appear on the deposit copy or phonorecord.
For registration of an entire collection of published works, give the title of the collection. For registration of only some of the individual works in a published collection, give the titles of the individual works followed by "Contained in (title of collection)."
In each of the following examples, the musical works can be registered with one application:
- Al wrote the music and Sue wrote the lyrics to each of eight songs.
- Sue wrote the music and Al and Larry wrote the lyrics to each of four songs.
In each of the following examples, the musical works can not be registered with one application:
- Al wrote the lyrics and music to three songs and co-wrote lyrics and music to four songs with Sue. (No transfer has taken place).
- Sue wrote the music for six songs; Al wrote the lyrics to two of the songs, and Larry wrote the lyrics to four of the songs.
