Depth Sounds World of Music

Copy Righting Your Music

  
Helpful Links:

 

Copyright Law of the United States of America
The United States Government Printing Office
Washington, DC 20401–4302

This Business of Music
M. William Krasilovsky and Sidney Shemel
Billboard Books
1515 Broadway
New York, NY 10036

 

The Copyright Book: A Practical Guide
William S. Strong
The MIT Press
Cambridge, MA

Copyright: The Complete Guide for Music Educators
Jay Althouse
Alfred Publishing Company, Inc.
P.O. Box 10003
Van Nuys, CA 91410-0003

 

At Depth Sounds, We are often asked, "How do I copyright a song I have written?"

The answer…

Copyright protection is automatic under the copyright law. An original song you write down or commit to tape is automatically copyrighted when it is "fixed" in such a copy or phono-record.

However, it is advantageous to register your song with the United States Copyright Office, because copyright registration must generally be made before an infringement suit may be effective.

If you choose to register a claim in your work, package together the following materials in the same envelope:

  • A properly completed application form (Form PA - See Below);

  • A non-returnable deposit of the work to be registered; and

  • A nonrefundable filing fee of $30 in the form of a check or money order payable to Register of Copyrights.

Send the items to:

Library of Congress
Copyright Office
101 Independence Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20559-6000

You may obtain Form PA by writing to the Copyright Office, or by calling (202) 707- 3000, or you may download it from the Copyright Office website at http://www.loc.gov/copyright. When you request or download Form PA, also request or download Copyright Circular 50…instructions.

Note. Two or more unpublished songs, song lyrics, or other musical works may be registered with one application and fee. However, the songs must be a titled collection, and they must be by the same author (or there must always be one author common to all the songs). There is danger here. Be sure to read the instructions for registering a collection in Circular 50.