? about orignal music copyrights and publishing companies

[Wasted Years]

Hey everyone,

The band that I am involved in is getting ready to release our first CD (independently of course.) It contains all original music. I wrote all of the music and about 25% of the lyrics.

My question is:
How do I go about copyrighting the material? Specfically, I want to make sure that the songs that I created and the parts that I contributed to the band stay somewhat within my control. Now I have no delusions that we are going to make it big and make tons of money off of these songs. Nor do I currently feel that any of the current lineup would screw me in anyway....but I guess you never know. I've heard so many other horror stories of other bands where the songs no longer belong to the songwriter but the band, or management etc.

Also, would I need to set up my own "Publishing Company" in order to copyright the songs that I get credit for, or partial credit for?

Again, I don't want anyone to think I am on some ego trip...but I also don't want to be regretting it in a couple of years.

I apologize if this should belong in a different area...I wasn't sure which area this would be most appropriate in. If I need to move it, please let me know

[jcs21]

Re: ? about orignal music copyrights and publishing companies

Check out-

http://www.loc.gov/copyright/

John

[jr73]

Re: ? about orignal music copyrights and publishing companies

get an account with ASCAP, i have one its very cheap. they make sure your stuff is copyrighted & that you get paid if it get played.
you can do it as a band or as individuals & give credit to the person who wrote the song,

[Cleveland Metal]

Re: ? about orignal music copyrights and publishing companies

http://www.music-law.com/

Maybe check this for some stuff too..

[YetAnotherOne]

Re: ? about orignal music copyrights and publishing companies

Be sure to copyright both your recordings and written transcriptions.

[Wasted Years]

Re: ? about orignal music copyrights and publishing companies

WOW! Thanks for all of the info....but now it is creating more questions!

How do you copyright a song if more than one person wrote it (for example..we have a tune where I wrote all the music, but the singer and I shared the lyrics) Do we copyright it under both of our names?

How do you copyright the "written music/transcription?" I guess I would have to write out all of the notes (that might get tough!)
Is that why I would need to make my own "publishing company?"

Again, thanks for all the info and links...you all rule!!

[YetAnotherOne]

Re: ? about orignal music copyrights and publishing companies

Originally posted by Wasted Years:
How do you copyright the "written music/transcription?" I guess I would have to write out all of the notes (that might get tough!)
Is that why I would need to make my own "publishing company?"

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">You don't need a publishing company to register your copyrights, and yep it's a pain but there's a good reason for doing it. As the sites linked above point out, you own the copyright in your song as soon as it is "fixed" (fixed = recorded, written down, etc.) so if all you're after is ownership, you don't need to do anything.

Registration of the work is important because you can't assert your rights against infringers until you're registered. In practical terms, one reason for registering the written version is that is will make it easier to enforce your rights if you ever have to do so.

The concept is easiest to understand via an example: Say you play in an industrial/grindcore band and you register the copyright in only a sound recording of your work. A reggae band led by an Elvis impersonator infringes, makes millions on your single, and you sue. What happens in court? It will boil down to the court playing your copyrighted recording and the infringer's and letting the jury decide if you've been ripped off. The jury will tend to think, "Gee, these two things sound nothing like each other. There *can't* be any infringement here." Theoretically it's not supposed to work that way but that is, in fact, what happens.

On the other hand, if you've registered the copyright in your written version, you have more options. You could then, for example, have a classical pianist perform your work and play both the classical version and your version for the jury. I'll submit that the average suburban grandmother would then have an easier time finding that you'd been ripped off.

There are other reasons but the music law site linked above does a really good job of explaining the basics.

Disclaimer - This isn't legal advice, don't rely on it as such. If you need legal advice, seek the counsel of an attorney licensed to practice in your jurisdiction.

[Newc]

Re: ? about orignal music copyrights and publishing companies

Ask an attorney who has experience in entertainment law, not just contracts or general law.
Also, the copyright office sees lyrics as 50% of a song and the music as 50% - not sure if this means the singer would get 50% of the profits and the bassist, guitarist(s), and drummer (and maybe keyboardist) would SPLIT the other 50%, or if they only count the main melody/rhythm (guitar or keyboard, whichever carries the main melody) for music (in which case, you as guitarist get 50% and the singer as lyricist gets 50%, and you two cut the others in for a share).

Now, the "fair" way to do it is like Sabbath did - all band members own the songs, even the ones that Ozzy and Iommi wrote alone without Geezer and Bill's input. They even get a share from "Fluff" and "Laguna Sunrise" (guitar-only instrumentals)

That's the best way I know of to keep everyone happy, and it's a great way to find out who is the "closet @$$hole - they'll be the one who says "Wait, if I wrote the ______ (music or lyrics) why should THEY get money for my work?" I went through that in my last band with my singer - everything was fine till we went for copyrights, and he came out with that very same line.

Newc

[Guitar Lawyer]

Re: ? about orignal music copyrights and publishing companies

Good advice and links have already been given. Here is one more link that may also help:

http://www.guitarworld.com/lessons/a...5.yuenger.html

[Inazone]

Re: ? about orignal music copyrights and publishing companies

Go to www.garageband.com and look for the link for Click&Copyright. There's quite a bit of information on that site, including some answers to your questions.

[OnlineStageGear]

Re: ? about orignal music copyrights and publishing companies

I think unless you hired musicians to go into the studio with you, then it is jointly written. If everyone contributed to the song, music, lyrics, melody, etc... then it should be shared. I always hate it when the person who comes up with the words thinks they wrote the song.

Matt