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Hi folks,
Just wondering if posting a song on website where the website states the day it was posted would provide in itself a form of copyright protection for the writer?
or not?
thanks very much
musiclover
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A lawyer would probably say 'better safe than sorry', and be right.
You have to have confidence the server would be around when needed, and the work to prove authenticity would be challenging. But it is something in your favor if accomplished. Everything on the net does leave a record, but getting to those records sometimes can be a pain.
Interesting scenario - PGMusic changed its forum software recently; are the old posts from the old forum still archived somewhere? I don't know. But even if theirs are, another server may not be.
I've given this some thought in recent years, and don't know how I stand, even still. Dates of information can be proven and accepted in court. Getting the servers to release that information may take a court injuction, or the server may have disappeared years before. It's an 'iffy' thing IMHO. It *could* be proven, but it would probably be easier is to prove using conventional methods. Getting lawyers to force someone to release records and the associated cost from both the server (to get the records) and law inforcement (for a civil matter to demand the records) would probably be pretty costly, with lawyer fees and all. Just my thoughts.
IANAL (I am not a lawyer)
OK, here's the flip side of it.
Once upon a time there was a site called melodyguard.com. They would accept your file and timestamp it so you could have a copy and they would keep a copy too (for a fee). The two versions were suppose vouch for each other. They are out of business last I heard, so I guess it didn't work so well.
Last edited by rharv; 04/09/11 02:59 PM.
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Intellectual property laws in the U.S.A. assert that if you composed it, it is yours by default. An automatic legal right. Canada and England have similar legislation. Although various commercial services claim that their brand of copyright documentation is superior to what is available at no cost to the musician, when push comes to shove (a legal battle), it is all about who can afford the slickest lawyers to represent their case. A recent case transpired in Canada with Sarah McLaughlin and the gentleman who produced and co-wrote four of her songs. The album was released without any songwriting credit to her producer, and no royalties were paid out to him. He had clear legal claim to co-writing the songs - she could afford a better lawyer. Last I heard, he is still not receiving royalties, and cannot afford to hire lawyers to appeal the decision. Bottom line: almost any legitimate corroboration of the fact that the song is yours will do, as long as you can afford the legal muscle to follow through should someone contest your ownership. My approach: write the songs - have some fun. If you write a winner and someone "steals" it, relax and write another winner... 
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As stated above, it is your property when you compose it. I think it best to send a copy of the CD to the U.S. Copyright office for a copyright registration. The form asks for the first publication date, which can be the date that you first sang the song in public. You also have to send a CD of the song and of course 45 bucks per song.
Don S.
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If I remember right, "A" copyright is 45 bucks, and you can submit up to 10 songs as a suite under one title and copyright all 10 for the same 45 bucks. A lawyer or research at some time earlier than 1am may prove me wrong, but I have done it that way in the past.
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Quote:
Hi folks,
Just wondering if posting a song on website where the website states the day it was posted would provide in itself a form of copyright protection for the writer?
or not?
thanks very much
musiclover
NO.
--Mac
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If you want it protected, register it with the copyright office.
Even if you can prove the date you wrote the song, if someone else steals it, and it isn't registered, you cannot sue for any money - you can only get them to stop playing/selling it.
I'm not a lawyer either, but I do have some experience with registering copyrights (it's not difficult).
Notes
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Thanks for replies everybody. I was just wondering about this but probably as Oren says write the songs and have fun and I don't think its going to go anywhere so no need to worry about that. To be honest I probably feel a bit of a hypocrite as I intend to use s few pics in the song video that I got on google images so before I do that I should really get permission, though I dont have a clue who the copywright owners are. I can't really use my own pics as song is a tribute to a long dead singer.
On a different note the song is 2.30 mins long and is 128mb .wmv file. Would I need to put song into a different file format so that I can upload easier and it will stream easier on youtube for lower broadband speeds?
thanks a lot for your kind help.
musiclover
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Quote:
My approach: write the songs - have some fun. If you write a winner and someone "steals" it, relax and write another winner...
My feelings exactly Oren. It's a problem I'd like to have...
Marc
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There are a great number of websites that post lyrics to copyrighted music. This would be a violation of the copyright laws and yet the sites persist unharmed.
I wonder if this part of the law is winked at in an effort to promote sales of the music?
Just wondering.
Don S.
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I'm not all that concerned with theft of my music these days, simply because what I do write is MELODIC and what is selling today is not melodic.
Don't get me wrong, I still register copyrights for certain of my compositions, but it is not very likely that someone is going to steal my entire jazz-based composition these days.
The real problem nowadays is theft of the mechanicals.
Sampling a few bars of your recording and looping it throughout another recording without giving you credit or royaltis is the way copyrights get violated these days.
So it behooves the recordist to make sure that they obtain at least the mechanical copyright on their recorded works. This can be done economically by obtaining a mechanical copyright on the whole album (CD) at once, rather than by the song, which makes your bottom line investment only one $40 fee in the US. There are caveats to not having each separate song copyrighted, though, and the serious songwriter should indeed consult a Music Writing Attorney (NOT JUST ANY ATTORNEY BUT ONE WHO IS IN THE MUSIC WRITING LAW FIELD) concerning the differences.
That said, the odds of any internationally known artist stealing loops from internet published home recordings are low to nonexistant. They're gonna go for Miles, not Mac.
--Mac
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Hi Mac,
I've had my songs on the net for a few years, and no one is rushing to steal them from me, That's a pretty good humility lesson.
The biggest notice I get is from the sites that sell ring tones. They hot link back to my site, so at least the songs get some play.
I still wonder how the sites that post copyrighted lyrics manage to escape the letter of the law?
Don S.
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Apprentice
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Quote:
Quote:
My approach: write the songs - have some fun. If you write a winner and someone "steals" it, relax and write another winner...
My feelings exactly Oren. It's a problem I'd like to have...
Marc
So...if someone stole something you made and sold it it would be OK with you? Interesting thinking.
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Quote:
...
The real problem nowadays is theft of the mechanicals.
Sampling a few bars of your recording and looping it throughout another recording without giving you credit or royaltis is the way copyrights get violated these days.
So it behooves the recordist to make sure that they obtain at least the mechanical copyright on their recorded works. This can be done economically by obtaining a mechanical copyright on the whole album (CD) at once, rather than by the song, which makes your bottom line investment only one $40 fee in the US. There are caveats to not having each separate song copyrighted ...
That said, the odds of any internationally known artist stealing loops from internet published home recordings are low to nonexistant. They're gonna go for Miles, not Mac.
-Mac
Your newsletter; how do I subscribe? <grin> </grin>
Your mechanical copyright is a good idea for 99% of users. It still validates registered dates (even if it seems to take forever).
I do not work here, but the benefits are still awesome
Make your sound your own!
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