Before you go uploading your original music online or making demo’s to pass around, copyright your music. You have no idea how popular a song may be. If you do not protect it, anybody can use it and make millions off your work. To avoid that happening, you must register it in the United States Copyright Office.
Your Rights
These are all the rights you have in a work:
1) You can make as many copies or phono records as you want. That includes any form meaning records, cassette tapes, CD’s, sheet music, etc.
2) You can make derivative works that’s based on your song. This means you can authorize translations, sound recordings, motion picture adaptions and abridgments.
3)You can sell the copies or phono records to the public, rentals, lend or lease and any other transfer ownership. When the first copy is authorized, anyone else can record it by following the provision of licensing act.
4)You can perform it in public. This is one of the primary rights as the basis for all performing rights organizations. Direct, source licenses and live venue performance applies as well.
5) You can show the work in public and display various images. For example, if you show the images on screen.
6) If you make recordings, you can perform the copyrighted song through digital audio transmission. The only eliminations are ‘Fair Uses’. Examples of Fair Use is by playing a copyrighted song in your home, charity fair or for educational use doesn’t need authorization from the person who owns the copyright.
The Symbol
When you have a published song, the © symbol should be on all copies you have created.
Length Of Copyright
Anything done after January 1978 is the life of the author and additional 70 years after their death. The length always depends on several factors, such as when the work was written, and what kind of work it is.
Infringement
This is why you should register your works. Infringement in copyright is when anyone violates any of the rights of the copyright owner. If that happens, you can initiate an infringement suit. This can happen if one song sounds like another, and someone performs it without permission. So what happens then? Paying for the attorney and court costs, damages suffered, statutory damages that can be up to $150,000, jail time, the profits of the infringer and injunctions. If it is an innocent infringement, it will be reduced damage. If your work has been used on purpose, the penalties and damages will be a lot higher.
International Copyright
The good news here is that thanks to the Universal Copyright Convention, The Berne Convention, and World Intellectual Property Organization, IPO, U.S. Copyrighted works have the same protection in most other countries of the world.
Forms
The PA Form is for all performing arts work that is published or unpublished. This includes music, lyrics, motion picture, audio visual works, dramatic works, and accompaniment music.
With the form you have to include what your work is on whether it be CD, cassette, sheet music, film, etc. You must include 2 copies for unpublished work, 1 copy for contribution to a collective work, and of course the fee. Work is copyrighted on the date it is received at the US copyright office certificate of registration in the mail. You will receive proof of your copyright ownership in the mail. For more information visit the website at http://www.copyright.gov.