Copywriting

Leel · Post by **Leel** » Fri Jun 27, 2003 11:23 pm

Hi Folks - How does one go about:

1) gettting original tunes copywrited... and...

2) ...figure out if your tune is, in fact,

'original'?

lee

lesl · Post by **lesl** » Fri Jun 27, 2003 11:48 pm

Here is your main reference, http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ1.html. It costs a little money to do it.

This other way of proving your claim is considered less useful, but you could write down your tune and date it and stick it into an envelope, mail it to yourself snail mail, and do not ever open it but file it somewhere. The postmark shows when you did it.

As far as how to know if your new tune is really original, well, hmm, maybe you need to play it, or post it, to all the tune encyclopediacs you know, or here and on the IrTrad list..

Cheers, Lesl

kkrell · Post by **kkrell** » Sat Jun 28, 2003 12:39 am

A whole list of copyright resources on the WORLDTRAD site ( http://www.worldtrad.org ), under the category RESOURCES->BUSINESS->Intellectural Property. You'll find links, forms, essays, etc. for the musician.

Quoting from Tim Berens: Copyrights for the Working Musician:

"How Do I Copyright My Compositions?

The simplest way to copyright your music is to simply put the phrase Copyright YEAR, NAME on either the sheet music,
or a recording of it. For example, the sheet music to the song Nortonomy says "Copyright 2000, Tim Berens." This
declares that Tim Berens owns the copyright to this song, and it was first copyrighted in the year 2000.

While a copyright declaration does grant you the copyright to the music, it is a good idea to register the music with the U.S. Copyright office as well. The simplest way to register is to go to the US Copyright office website ( http://www.loc.gov/copyright/forms/ ). Here you will be able to find the forms needed to copyright your music.

To copyright a recording, you fill out form SR. To copyright a composition, you fill out form PA.

I suggest you read every last instruction and follow them to the letter. The government loves rules, and will happily toss
your application in the trash for any sort of violation of their rules.

The fee for copyrighting a song is $30.00. If you have a group of songs you wish to copyright, you can simply enclose
them all in a binder (even a strong paper clip), give the group of songs a title (e.g. My Song Collection), and pay one fee for all the songs. This can save you quite a bit of money."

Forget the self-addressed envelope nonsense, not valid.

Kevin Krell

bradhurley · Post by **bradhurley** » Sat Jun 28, 2003 6:07 am

If your tune will be recorded on a commercially available album, you also might want to publish it, which can be done through BMI or ASCAP.

However, you also might want to reconsider the whole thing. Copyright and publishing might help ensure that you get some royalties for your tune if someone else records it, but given the economics of the traditional Irish music "recording industry" I doubt you'd make more than $25 from a tune over your lifetime, and even that's optimistic. It might be better to keep your tune in the public domain and get your rewards from hearing other people play it.

A few years ago I published some of my compositions through BMI, but then had a change of heart and decided not to copyright or publish any other tunes I compose. I'd much rather see them absorbed into the tradition, if any of them prove to be good enough for that, than to get a few dollars or some ego gratification from seeing my name listed next to a tune on a recording.

lesl · Post by **lesl** » Sat Jun 28, 2003 8:14 am

Kevin said,

If you have a group of songs you wish to copyright,
you can simply enclose them all in a binder (even a strong paper clip),
give the group of songs a title (e.g. My Song Collection), and pay one fee
for all the songs. This can save you quite a bit of money."

Forget the self-addressed envelope nonsense, not valid.

To register a copyright for a group of tunes or songs, you can also just
send in a tape or cd with all the music on it, along with the form and the
money. I seem to recall it's not necessary to actually write it all out.

I've always wondered why the self-addressed envelope is said to not hold
up in a court of law. What's with that Kevin.

Cheers, Lesl

kkrell · Post by **kkrell** » Sat Jun 28, 2003 2:18 pm

lesl wrote: I've always wondered why the self-addressed envelope is said to not hold
up in a court of law. What's with that Kevin.

Cheers, Lesl

Easily open to fraud. For instance, you can postmark an envelope, and add the material later.

Kevin Krell

Leel · Post by **Leel** » Sat Jun 28, 2003 9:06 pm

Thanks everyone -

and I thouroughly agree with you ?Brad? It's not for want of royalties or anything other that the satisfaction of hopefully having another whistler enjoy playing my tunes, and contributing to ITM.

But, I do have another motive: I am inspired to write tunes as gifts to my loved ones and friends, and I just thought that a copywrite with an official dedication attached would be a real keen experience for those I have written for.

Maybe official copy writing isn't the way to go, but I would always like the dedications an integral part of the tune. Any thoughts? :roll:

Leel

lesl · Post by **lesl** » Sun Jun 29, 2003 9:28 am

Leel wrote:

Maybe official copy writing isn't the way to go, but I
would always like the dedications an integral part of the tune. Any
thoughts?

If you type up your tune in abc, but begin it this way,

X:1
T:The name of your tune
T:(in honour of Aunt Gail)
C:Leel c2003
N:composed for Aunt Gail's birthday
M:C|
K:D
DGGF ... etc.

etc., and then if you punch the tune incl. these headers into
http://www.concertina.net/tunes_convert.html,
you ought to get something you can print out with all the
dedications on it.

Kevin said:

Easily open

Thanks Kevin for explanation.

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