LOL! There are millions and millions of songs out there -- and only 12 notes (in western music) and everyone has the same ideas. It's all been done before. The chances of your music being actually stolen is beyond minuscule. Quit worrying about it.

P.S. Heck, the odds of your stuff being really original are pretty slim, too.

Okay, here is what is at the root of my concerns. In 1984, I received a phone call from a drummer friend and the message was "Go see [unnamed movie here] and make sure you stay for the song rolling over the closing credits. You'll love that song."

I went to see [unnamed movie here]. The movie itself was so-so. When the credits started rolling, I thought to myself "Hey this sounds familiar." And 16 bars into the song I stood up in the theater and said "Hey! I WROTE that *@&#^#%^& song!!!" and ran to a pay phone to call the drummer who had called me.

I was in LA working on a music project in 1983 with a bunch of Ohio transplants. We had everything but a guitar player, and we recruited a local guy. We ran 15 songs, 11 of which I wrote, the other 4 the drummer wrote. We threw three of those away, all three were mine. The 12 (8 me, 4 him) we recorded were copyrighted. The three we threw away were not. One of those throw away songs was the one in the movie.

PS. The writing credit for the song that rolled in the movie?

That guitar player we hired.

Moral of the story..... don't trust people with your music unless and until you can prove it belongs to you.

Sub moral of the story? If karma is real, I will see that guy again. And if my temper is real, I will knock his teeth out of his mouth and continue to pummel him until he admits he stole my song. And then sue him for however much money he made from the song he stole, minus a performing credit for the time he worked for me, which I will estimate at $1.00.

That was almost 40 years ago! We live in a different time -- there is no protection anymore for copyrighted music. Illegal downloads, rappers sampling whatever they want, the public viewpoint that music is a "background" thing and should be free has worked against the copyright holders.

Make music, enjoy music and don't let an event that happened in 1984 ruin your current life.

Oh by the way, if one of my songs ended up in a movie or on the radio and a different author was listed -- I would have the same reaction you had!!!!!

Musical theft is the sincerest form of flattery ! Otherwise why would we all want to make music with Biab (so many style alias's wish I could sound like them all)? Every lick I ever played either came from or was modified from someone else . My best licks are mostly mistakes while trying to emulate others . I wish someone would steal from me (only musically !),maybe I might be coming closer to what people really want.

ps Showcase Here ! Where is your song Eddie ?

Where is THAT song? Lawyers have instructed me not to name the movie lest <B>I</> be sued. We ran that song maybe 3 times at a rehearsal and said "Nah" so it was never really written down anywhere or recorded. However, apparently Mr Guitar Playing Song Thief ran right home to his home recording equipment and laid it down because two years or so later, there it was.

I may post a couple of my new ones when the copyrights are in place. Not that they are monumental pieces that will make a mark in music history, but I want to be protected.

Sorry Eddie What I meant to say is this is the user showcase ,what you want is off topic unless you are posting song . You make the song we listen to the song and tell you what we think .

Oh I see what you meant now Tommyc. Admins feel free to erase this post since it is truly not in the right place.

I don't mean erase the post , I want to hear what you guard so closely . I'm into sharing music man ,don't hide your talent throw it out there and maybe get some ideas on how to improve it! Come on over On the Dark Side, Eddie ! lol