COPYRIGHT:
Copyright (4) Should I copyright all of my songs?
Copyright: How do I get a copyright?
Copyright: Is it safe to post my song here?
Copyright: Where do I get my song copyrighted and can u teach me any tips on how to get my money's worth (Wash D.C.) to file? - meaning.. do as a collection per say.. rather than song by song.
Security/Copyright: o I'm paranoid about people stealing my songs, do I need an attorney ?
Copyright: 1. Legal Questions. Mostly questions about copyrights, followed by specific contract questions.
Copyright: 3. How to copyright songs.
Copyright: "someone told me I could mail my lyrics to myself and that would make them copyright, is that right"
Copyright: If a demo company wants part of my copyright for doing the demo that I pay for?
Security: Is it safe to post my songs here?
Copyright: 3: Should I copyright my songs? If so, how do I do that?
Copyright: How do you make that little copyright sign?..� year and name ©

COPYRIGHT: Fixed Form.
Date of 'creation' of any 'Fixed Form', written, recorded, is an 'automatic' Copyright Date, a 'right' to 'copy' your Intellectual Property (IP) bestowed by Federal Copyright Law (U. S. A. May vary in other countries).
You may have been working on it for years without writing it down or recording it. The moment you put it in 'Fixed Form' is the moment Federal Copyright Law 'bestows' you with ownership of the 'right' to 'copy' your Intellectual Property (IP) for fun or profit.
Date of receipt by the Library of Congress Register of Copyrights is the 'Registration Date'.
A Federal Judge, in Federal Court, where Federal Copyright Law cases are heard, will not let you file a Copyright Infringement lawsuit without a Registration.
Your lawyer will appreciate your contemporaneous documentation of exposure to 'Access' to your IP. Notes of who, what, when, where, why, made at the time, filed away like Companies do, taking care of business, can carry weight in arguing a Legal case.
Mailing your Lyric or Manuscript to yourself by Registered Mail, receiving it and leaving it unopened, might be documentation you can present in a Court case.
But it is not a 'Registration' of your Copyright. Only formal Registration with the Library of Congress will entitle you to file a lawsuit in Federal Court. Known as the 'Poor Man's Copyright', cheaper than the $20 a Registration cost when I filed my first, a $20 bite out of my disposable income that was significant in my budget, the technique is just a little better than nothing.

COPYRIGHT: Education and Registration.
www.copyright.gov has Circulars to read to Educate Yourself so you can take care of business, and help your Lawyer if it's ever necessary.
The site will walk you through Registration.

COPYRIGHT: Posting on the internet.
Posting your Song anywhere is not 'safe'. Is putting gasoline in your tank 'safe'? Or is it possible someone will steal it? That's why you lock doors, lock gas caps. Car companies put a 'barrier' in the neck of your filler access to prevent a siphon hose from being put down to steal your gas.
Thieves for anything of value exist.
You are 'Saf-er' if you have Registered your product for Copyright, formally, with the Library of Congress.
However, you may want to take risks as you're learning Song-Writing and how to be a Company in the Song-Writing business. Sometimes you can get critiques that help you comprehend what's good about your Song, and what's 'bad' about it. Other eyes on your Lyric may spot 'flaws', in their opinion, and help you think about things you may not have noticed. Other ears may spot things in the sounds you didn't notice, and help you think about changes to make it better.
Indicating your claim to Copyright, "Song Title" by "Your Name Here" "Copyright November 6, 2022" can help advise thieves you are claiming your 'right' to 'copy', perhaps discouraging them from trying to steal it. No guarantee. Your dated post here may also serve as additional documentation in a court case. A digital forensics expert could probably find out if the accused ever 'Accessed' you post.

COPYRIGHT: Collections.
In the mid-1990's I was fond of playing 'Under The Elms' on the campus of Ohio University (1804) in Athens, Ohio. Suddenly people popped up with video cameras, and then cell phone telecomputers, enabling them to 'capture' my Lyric and the Melody to which I sang it, and the Arrangement I played on guitar. I worried they could walk away and Register the Song as theirs and I might be unable to do anything about it. I Registered 167 Songs with the Library of Congress in 'Collections' of about 32 Songs each, for a single Registration fee for each 'Collection'. "Out Of The Woodwork", a Collection of Songs by Gary E. Andrews. "Out Of The Woodwork II, ...", etc.
My first Registration, a co-write, cost $20, which was a lot of money to come out of my budget at the time. The fee has increased over time, and the rules regarding Registration are subject to change. This is Government and who wields Government authority can change the game according to their way of looking at it.

COPYRIGHT: Demo Company Wants 'In'.
If a Demo Company wants part of your 'Company', part of your Song, they either see merits in it, potential for it to earn profits, or they simply want to 'lock in' 'Rights' to the Song-Writing and/or Publishing Royalties if you ever get it to market, without them doing anything but getting to to sign your name on a Contract, legally obligating you to abide by the Contract.
You can't use their Demo Recording to 'Release' to market, unless you have a signed Contract saying you can. Their singers and musicians may retain 'rights', as specified in a Contract. The Producer may retain rights to the Master Recording. Unless your Contract says they don't retain those rights there is a danger that a deal you're working on could go bad when it comes to signing a Contract. You have to 'clear' the product as owner of the Copyright and Master Recording.
One Song isn't your whole Company. But it IS your Company's product. You sign away rights to a Publisher if they're going to do the legwork to market the Song. You should retain as much ownership of the 'right' to 'copy' your Intellectual Property as possible. This is how your Company will earn profits; owning the product.
If cutting a Demo Company in for a share means you CAN release the Master Recording to market, and you think you can do that and earn profits, it might be reasonable to cut them in. But once they're in and the Copyright is Registered with them as co-writers, co-authors/composers, it's permanent.

COPYRIGHT: Symbol.
On my Hewlett Packard laptop, hold down ALT key, and, on the number pad on the right of your keypad, type 0169 © to get the Circle in a C Copyright Symbol.
I had a $2,000 Apple computer that became obsolete, would not accept 'their' latest Operating System, and it was Control G.
If you hold down the ALT Key and hit every letter and number key on your keypad it may show you all sorts of alternative symbols you might have a use for. Or not.

Last edited by Gary E. Andrews; 11/06/22 03:27 PM.
There will always be another song to be written. Someone will write it. Why not you? www.garyeandrews.com