why copyright your music?
you’ve been putting your name on your stuff since kindergarten.
I write my daughter’s name on her thermos. The kids in her class probably will not take it, at least not intentionally, but it’s good to know her name is there…just in case. Now consider the work you’ve just created. That song is your intellectual property. Is it worth at least the value of a purple unicorn thermos? Because it’s just like anything else you own. And, well, if I put my things somewhere it may mingle with other people’s things, I kind of want to be sure I get it back. Not to mention, there is that lingering risk of financial loss and unnecessary stress.
If you’re going to label your things, use permanent marker.
Okay, so technically your work is copyrighted the moment you create it and “fix it in a tangible form,” that is, capture it in a somewhat permanent medium. No legal magic required. You can put your name on it or not, save the recording to your computer, or store the lyrics on a lipstick-stained napkin in a desk drawer. It’s yours. The thing is, should you need to defend your ownership, the knowledge that it is yours comes into direct conflict with another person’s claim that it is not yours.
In comes that familiar legal term, that 1991 romcom, that “he said, she said.” It takes a lot more effort to prove ownership without various forms of meaningful evidence to corroborate your story—a witness perhaps? Without that, another artist can come along with all their evidence and disprove your ownership, completely erasing your rights. Think of the legal copyright as an extremely credible witness to your genius midnight efforts. It’s so credible that it’s like signing your name with permanent marker. The automatically presumes whoever registered the work owns the work. You may still have someone threaten your rights but it’s not like you signed with dry erase, so you will have an easier time proving your claim.
It’s easy.
Conceiving the song—writing and rewriting, arranging the melody, finding the bridge—that was the hard part. Once you create your account with the U.S. Copyright Office, it should not take more than five minutes to upload a single song. You are literally taking what you’ve already created and uploading it. (You’ve probably uploaded a song to SoundCloud in about the same amount of time.) Then, you pay $45-$65. Voila! Your work is now registered on the public record. And if you upload your work as a collection or “group of unpublished works”, you should only pay one copyright fee. (Don’t take my word, learn more here.)
It makes you feel really official.
No real explanation here. Just feels nice to see your name listed by your work. It’s a reminder that an artist is an artist, even if the world does not know your name.
xO