RESOLVED: Electronic Copyright best practices

Copyright.... hummmm
 
Well, you do know that as soon as you record it or put it on paper (or electronic medium) that it has a copyright automatically ....right?
 
With the advent of the computer, all files, when created are given date stamps of creation. In addition if you upload the files to a file server in the cloud, that server also date stamps the file upon arrival.
 
OK, so to address your question, yes, you can send all the files to the LOC (Library of Congress) which is the only legitimate copyright office as far as the US court system is concerned....and pay one small copyright registration fee to cover them all in a collection.  To file a claim of copyright infringement in court the LOC copyright is needed.
 
To the next issue:   Unless you are the writer of some previous hits, the need to copyright your music is nearly non-existent. As hard as it is to get a publisher or A&R person to listen... just listen to one of your songs these days, no one is standing in line to rip off your music.
 
I send music to publishers and libraries and more than one of them has asked me not to copyright the songs in advance and not to register them with my PRO. The publisher will handle BOTH of those registrations and it won't cost you a dime.  So it's literally been years since I last registered a song with either.  Last time I looked in on my PRO account, I saw where my newest library had dropped around 40 new tunes into the account..... If you don't trust the person you're doing business with, why are you doing business with them?
 
Since I have Masterwriter software (cost $200) and it came with a lifetime subscription to Songuard Service, I do use the service. I am able to send any MP3 with or without words to the server and it keeps track of the song's date stamp in the very unlikely event that someone does rip it off.
 
At the Nashville Songwriter's meeting just last week, this very topic came up. And all the writers in the room who were pitching cuts to Nashville publishers agreed that LOC is a total waste of time and money. No one registers their songs for copyright for the reasons I mentioned.
 
Of course, some folks who don't understand the reality of the music biz, might be a bit uncomfortable with sending unprotected songs out the door,  so to them...(you?) I simply say, if it makes you sleep better at night, go ahead and register them, but for goodness sakes, do it as a collection so it doesn't cost quite so much.
 
Really, I wish someone would steal one of my songs and make it a huge hit....... There are a bunch of music lawyers who would be "very interested" in handling that case for me for a cut of the action......
 
So no, I do not go that route.....

Herb and I have had this disagreement many times and that's OK.  he has a valid point and I concede that.
 
however, like you, Bob, I seriously doubt any of my tunes will ever be published and if they are then the publisher can deal with my copyrights.  that's what they get paid to do.
 
besides if I don't ever get published, then I will still leave my songs officially copyrighted after I'm gone.  there will be an official copyright record in my name - it's my legacy.  probably the only one I'll ever get so why rob myself of that by not copyrighting in hopes of getting published?
 
 
after I'm dead my computer will be sold to the highest bidder at an estate sale, the hard drive will be wiped clean, my cloud backup will be forgotten and the only legacy of my songs would be what's uploaded to soundcloud.  that's not what I want to leave my song legacy to.  copyright them.  if a publisher wants your song badly enough, he'll take care of the copyright issue.  if not, leave your legacy at the US copyright office.
 
one thing I completely disagree with Herb on, tho, is the Masterwriter deal.  Masterwriter's "copyright" is no better than sending it to yourself in the mail.  it's useless compared to an official copyright - the US Copyright website FAQ page states how useless those types of "copyrights" are.

Hi,
 
Having lost a screenplay, I now cover myself a bit more.
 
I send a copy of the work to the Library of Congress and pay the fee. 
 
It's cost me once, but I really felt that the guys were trying to steal the work and not pay me, so it comes in handy now and then!
 
Now, as for the coffee house posts, I trust that Bapu is the record keeper of all time! He should copyright all those with a book, and then sell it at a couple of dollars each online, and we would all buy it and laugh with it, each time we were depressed and there is no sex to be had!

Timely registration of copyright not only gives you the right to sue for infringement, it gives you the right to collect statutory damages and attorney fees if you win your suit. You must register the copyright before you can initiate a lawsuit, but you can do that registration years after creation and days before commencing the lawsuit. But if you want to preserve all of your rights, the work has to have been registered soon after it was created, that may be years before anyone thinks it is of any value, any publisher undertakes to copyright it, or anyone infringes it. Remember that "publication" does not mean selling to a publisher, it means making the work available to the public. It is highly likely that a court would consider that your work is published when you upload it to music website.
 
http://fairuse.stanford.edu/overview/faqs/registration-and-enforcement/
 

rbecker
Beagle, Moshkiae or anyone-
 
Do you ever submit a bunch of tunes in a single zip file?
Pro: Easier than uploading 26 separate files.
Con: I'm thinking the confirmation email will not list all the tunes, but rather just the name of the zip file (my_songs.zip).

no, I've never submitted them in a single zip.  I'm not sure how to answer that for you.  sorry.