JPF Home Page Forums General Messages General Message Forum Copyright law

This horse has a mouth: www.copyright.gov

Transitioning from Songwriting hobbyist, avocation, to Songwriting 'company', vocation, means it's time to study something about the commercial aspects of the 'biz'.

Copyright law is federal, so the .gov address can answer most of your questions and give you a place to study and know for yourself how the law works. I've even spoken with employees by phone to clarify obscure issues.

The more you know the more you can help your lawyer, if such need arises. Copyright law has nuances different from criminal or commercial law. Some lawyers specialize in each discipline, to the exclusion of others. Those specializing in Entertainment Law should know the nuances of that area. Almost any lawyer is better than none.

I recommend putting your copyright notice on any publication where you are giving 'access' to others. That term, 'access', is what you would have to prove in a federal courtroom to begin a complaint of 'infringement' on your 'intellectual property' (IP). How did the thief have access to steal your intellectual property?

Without formal document 'Registration' with the U. S. Register of Copyrights at the Library of Congress you cannot get on the docket in federal court, where federal copyright law is heard. Once you begin to 'do business', to engage contractually with someone to legally use your intellectual property...Let's capitalize "Intellectual Property"...they will want to know that you yourself have legal authority to control that property, to authorize by your signature their 'right' to 'copy' it and take it to market. If you don't, the deal comes to a screeching halt, until you do get the product Registered and can show them the document. Registration is effective the date the Registration application is received by the Register of Copyrights, but you may wait days, weeks, months for a document. I waited 84 days, once. With digitization they may be more electronically competent now to enable expediting your commercial need for documentation. I don't know. www.copyright.gov does know.

Even without formal Registration the notice that you claim your exclusive 'right' to 'copy' your intellectual property is a simple legal formality, giving those with access notice, that may prove invaluable in court, should infringement ever occur. We see daily how thieves with good lawyers get away with robbing people in numerous ways, so we know there are thieves afoot, at large, among us, watching for their opportunity. We buy gas caps that lock on our cars so we can keep the gas we paid for. We lock the doors of our cars and homes and garages and workplaces to keep the things we've bought, and our lives functioning in our bodies. Copyright claim is a 'lock' of sorts, even without the formal Registration that gives you two strong legs to stand on in court should anyone infringe on your right to copy your intellectual property.

It's easy. Why not do it? What advantage is there in NOT putting your copyright notice on your works, wherever you give 'access' to them? And, when things start happening on any given work, it's a good investment to go forward with Registration.