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<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Heradia:
This is also what confuses me about 'emailing' and sending 'mp3's' as part of a collaboration process. I've been invited to 'share song ideas'with several other songwriters but havent' dared so far.
When I go to register my copyrighted songs with SOCAN I am asked what the 'worktype' is - what is the original work? under the 'use of protected material section.'
I never know how to answer it. I'm given several options to choose from: use of copyright words, sampling, usage of copyright words and music, trad public domain, etc.
Most songs come from influences of other songs and music heard over a lifetime. Where's the line exactly where a song is totally mine and not yours or his or her's or their's?
What if my song uses ideas of words and phrases from the Psalms in the Bible? Is it then 'trad public domain' or what?
What if I use words from my grandma's recipe which she used from her grandma's recipe and so on and so forth?
What if I use words from a witch's spell and incantation? Whom does it belong to then?
And please don't say to ask SOCAN or EMI or BMG or whoever because when I phone them they tell me they are not a musician's agent.
They are the one's responsible for making sure the material is properly copyrighted and registered but they can't advize on the categories of what is copyrighted material and what isn't. They can't clarify questions of a registered member. It's ludicrous. And that's why I have writer's block.

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[This message has been edited by Heradia (edited 12-15-2005).]</font>


Copyright is a funny thing.Sometimes you can "borrow" a verse from another song and not be infringing while other times you can infring by "borrowing" just one line.The English language only has a few thousand words and they all get used everyday,some more than others,so if you don't write because you fear that you may be borrowing words already used,then you will never write.

You can't copyright a title or idea but you can copyright a story or song as a package, how you tell it,but not each individual word or phrase used in telling said story.

I am not a lawyer but this is my understanding of copyright.Right or wrong.

Everett

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May the flowers of love forever bloom in your garden of life

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