How To Get A Copyright For A Song

Hi, Dennis Sinnott, here.

When I first started writing songs, around the age of sixteen, I thought copyright was something you had to apply for in order to protect your song.  It was only when I started working at my first music publishing company, that I found out what music registration was really about.

One of the first and most fundamental things I discovered was that copyright actually exists the moment you create your work and has nothing to do with applying for, or how to get a copyright for a song. However, in order to protect what you've created, you need to make your song into a tangible format - i.e a recording, or say a lead sheet (i.e the music notes of the melody line written on manuscript with the corresponding lyrics, and chord symbols above the respective notes). It is that tangible format that can then be registered, not the the song swurling round in your head! How soon should you register the tangible format of your song? Immediately! I can't stress this enough.

One of the biggest mistakes any songwriter can make, is simply failing to protect his/her copyright after it has been created. It has never ceased to amaze me how so many otherwise great creators of words and music, place the registration process way down on his/her priority list, often with dire consequences. This is especially so with co-writers and those who play in bands. Leaving the question of who created the chorus, middle eight, or wrote most of the lyrics to mere memory, is a very unsafe thing six months to a year later - when an individual has moved on with his life after leaving a band or writing partnership, only to find his/her song had been used in a film, commercial or record without giving him/her a credit or a royalty.

Lets face it, if you put so much of your time and energy into writing songs, surely it makes sense to protect them! As a young songwriter, I always made sure that, before I sent any of my songs to anyone, and I mean anyone - I always took steps to protect the copyright first!

In registering your songs, don't just rely on notifying your performing right society - either, not if you're just submitting the title and writer credit. Deposit a lead sheet copy at the national library of your country as well. If you live in the U.S.A - for example, go to the U.S. Copyright Office: http://www.copyright.gov/ . In the UK you can send a copy to the British Library at: http://www.bl.uk/

Hope that helps!

If you'd like to have more help on songwriting visit the main site at http://www.MastersOfSongwriting.com or send me an email at info@christelmusic.com
Have a great week!
Your friend and mentor, Dennis Sinnott