This is an important subject for everybody to understand on a pretty deep level if you expect to make music and stay safe with your campaigns. Obtaining a copyright through the Copyright Office in Washington DC is important if you want to make sure your rights are fully protected. The problem is there’s so much confusion when it comes to how the process works and why it’s important.
First of all you need to understand that technically the second you make the instrumental, art or work from scratch with your own designs, you already own the copyright technically. Whoever creates the work is by default the owner of the work. The problem becomes proving it in court. If somebody else signs a copyright for your work, though it is fraud and can have severe consequences, it becomes extremely hard to prove that you made the work.
A copyright is a way for you to make sure that you own your music and nobody can question it. If somebody tries to copyright your material and you’ve already got a copyright filed, you’re golden. That is great legal proof and will hold up in court flawlessly. If not, you’re forced to try to prove your ownership through other means which may not be very easy.
If you’ve uploaded your music to your website, it doesn’t mean that will hold up in court. Websites can be manipulated and it’s not really adequate proof of anything being factual. The only thing you have going for you in this kind of nightmare of a case is having all the full files to the song. Even then, though, the dates and time stamps won’t matter. So if the other person who is trying to copyright your material fraudulently has the same files, you’re screwed.
This is why it’s so important to have your instrumentals copywritten and actual proof set up so you can win in court. The copyright process itself is very easy and you should not be afraid to try. Instead of going through an expensive company which will do it for you, why not try to actually print the forms yourself and copyright your music correctly? That way you learn more about how the process works. I do my own taxes every year and the first couple years I did taxes I missed out on all sorts of write-offs. But I keep doing my own taxes because I truly love learning, and on the other hand this way I don’t have to spend my hard earned cash on somebody else doing it.
I’ll take knowledge and hard work over spending money and remaining dumb and blind any day. The first step is to go to Copyright.GOV. There’s plenty of information there to help you get going. However, you will need to sign up for an online-based account if you want your process to be smooth and well documented. In my opinion, this is the best way to do it. You have to make an online account with Copyright.gov to proceed.
Once you’ve got that, just fill out the appropriate paperwork. The cost is only $35 for a single song, or if you want to be a little more efficient you can actually copyright an entire project for only $55. I mean, would you rather copyright just a single song for $35 or 20 songs for $55? Put together a product, make an album cover too if you can, and copyright it all as a project. That’s going to be your best bet.
The copyright process is essential if you want to get your music making royalties through ASCAP, BMI or other publishing payment services. Don’t you dare start submitting your songs to labels without full copyrights to your music, you will regret it!
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