copywrite through mail
Keith E. Jennings
I read an article here a while back that described how to copywrite a
song via the USPS...could someone please repeat that information?
thanks
--
Keith E. Jennings
cn...@cypress.mcsr.olemiss.edu
Seth Jackson
cn...@cypress.mcsr.olemiss.edu (Keith E. Jennings) wrote:
>I read an article here a while back that described how to copywrite a
>song via the USPS...could someone please repeat that information?
>thanks
Yes, call the Copyright Office and request that they mail you Form PA.
When you receive it, fill it out, and mail it back along with your
song and a check for $20.
This is the only way to guarantee proof of copyright through the US
mail. If anyone tells you otherwise, they're wrong.
--
Seth Jackson
Seth Jackson's Songwriting Page: http://www.cinenet.net/users/speaker
Songwriting and the Music Business, plus the Online "Country Notes" for the Los Angeles area
Larry Collins
cn...@cypress.mcsr.olemiss.edu (Keith E. Jennings) wrote:
>I read an article here a while back that described how to copywrite a
>song via the USPS...could someone please repeat that information?
Okay. Load your revolver, making sure every chamber contains a
cartridge. Then close it up, point it at the center of your foot, in
a straight line back from your third toe. Then look away as you pull
the trigger...
In other words,
The "Poor Man's Copyright" is marginally better than nothing at all.
In fact, it's already failed in court, in a suit against Dolly Parton,
involving "9-to-5".
Beldon
On 19 Jun 1996, Keith E. Jennings wrote:
> I read an article here a while back that described how to copywrite a
> song via the USPS...could someone please repeat that information?
> thanks
>
> --
> Keith E. Jennings
> cn...@cypress.mcsr.olemiss.edu
>
>
Don't bother. The *only* legal way to register your copyright is through
the copyright office. Anything else is just a waste of time and doesn't
help you one bit if someone infringes your song.
By law, your song is protected from the moment you created it. However,
registration validates your claim to ownership. If someone cops your song
and it's not registered a)the burden of proof is on you to prove you were
the original author; and b)you would only be able to sue for actual
damages (i.e. what that person collected on your work) and not your legal
fees or other statutory damages to which you would otherwise be entitled.
If your song is registered, however, it constitutes what they call prima
faciae proof of your claim. That means that anyone claiming you infringed
the song from them has the burden to produce evidence to the contrary.
Again, I can't emphasize this enough, just register it the right way or
you may very well regtret it!
-Beldon
Concerned Fellow Songster
Scott Burright
On Thu, 20 Jun 1996, Seth Jackson wrote:
> Date: Thu, 20 Jun 1996 07:17:55 GMT
> From: Seth Jackson <spe...@cinenet.net>
> Newsgroups: rec.music.makers.songwriting
> Subject: Re: copywrite through mail
>
> cn...@cypress.mcsr.olemiss.edu (Keith E. Jennings) wrote:
>
> >I read an article here a while back that described how to copywrite a
> >song via the USPS...could someone please repeat that information?
> >thanks
>
> Yes, call the Copyright Office and request that they mail you Form PA.
> When you receive it, fill it out, and mail it back along with your
> song and a check for $20.
>
> This is the only way to guarantee proof of copyright through the US
> mail. If anyone tells you otherwise, they're wrong.
Also, you can get Form PA off the Web if you've got Adobe Acrobat.
http://lcweb.loc.gov/copyright/forms.html
Scott Burright
Networked Information Resources Librarian
Wright State University
Dayton, OH 45435
513-873-2689
"Most of our future lies ahead."
-- Denny Crum, Louisville basketball coach
Steve M. Schalchlin
It is not safe to "copywrite" -- the word is copyright, by the way, Your
RIGHT to control who COPIES your music -- through the USPS system.
Why? Because with modern technology, the opposing attorney can easily
argue that you could tamper with the package.
Use the Copyright Office and do it right. Make yours songs into a
collection and pay the fee you would pay for one song. Use the NAS
SongBank Service if you aren't "done" with the song and you want to just
register a version.
How long will it take for that old USPS version to die?
In article <4q9gjp$4...@nntp2.backbone.olemiss.edu>,
cn...@cypress.mcsr.olemiss.edu (Keith E. Jennings) wrote:
> I read an article here a while back that described how to copywrite a
> song via the USPS...could someone please repeat that information?
> thanks
>
> --
> Keith E. Jennings
> cn...@cypress.mcsr.olemiss.edu
--
Steve Schalchlin
http://www.geocities.com/Broadway
Lyle Caldwell
As the OJ case has shown us, lawyers can prove ANYTHING these days. But
still, the "poor man's copyright" is still sufficient in many cases. The
Copyright Office is undeniably the better way to go, but the "old USPS"
will do in a pinch.
I, myself, do register copyright with the Library of Congress. But for
someone writing for their own amusement on the weekend or for church,
etc, the mail should work.
For anyone out there who wants to find out where Steve and I are getting
this from, I highly recommend "This Business of Music."
Lyle Caldwell
Psionic Music, Inc.
Keith E. Jennings
Steve M. Schalchlin (ste...@loop.com) wrote:
: It is not safe to "copywrite" -- the word is copyright, by the way, Your
: RIGHT to control who COPIES your music -- through the USPS system.
DOH! Sorry about that spelling error...just didn't think...
Barry Kolsky
Lyle Caldwell wrote:
>
> Steve M. Schalchlin wrote:
> >
> > It is not safe to "copywrite" -- the word is copyright, by the way, Your
> > RIGHT to control who COPIES your music -- through the USPS system.
> >
> > argue that you could tamper with the package.
> >
> > Use the Copyright Office and do it right. Make yours songs into a
> > collection and pay the fee you would pay for one song. Use the NAS
> > SongBank Service if you aren't "done" with the song and you want to just
> > register a version.
> >
> > How long will it take for that old USPS version to die?
> >
> > In article <4q9gjp$4...@nntp2.backbone.olemiss.edu>,
> > cn...@cypress.mcsr.olemiss.edu (Keith E. Jennings) wrote:
> >
> > > I read an article here a while back that described how to copywrite a
> > > song via the USPS...could someone please repeat that information?
> > > thanks
> > >
> > Steve Schalchlin
> > http://www.geocities.com/Broadway
>
> As the OJ case has shown us, lawyers can prove ANYTHING these days. But
> still, the "poor man's copyright" is still sufficient in many cases. The
> Copyright Office is undeniably the better way to go, but the "old USPS"
> will do in a pinch.
> I, myself, do register copyright with the Library of Congress. But for
> someone writing for their own amusement on the weekend or for church,
> etc, the mail should work.
> For anyone out there who wants to find out where Steve and I are getting
> this from, I highly recommend "This Business of Music."
>
> Lyle Caldwell
> Psionic Music, Inc.
I doubt the fact that any of the readers here have ever been involved in
litigation over copyright issues. I have,.... with several publishing
companies with whom I've worked. It is not a fun situation (eventhough
most have turned out favorably in our direction).
It is worth the $20 to send in a PA of SR form to the Copyright Office.
I don't trust the ears of 12 of my peers to determine the fate of
ownership and $$$...
--
Barry
\\\^///
< •؟• >
~
http://home.earthlink.net/~kolsky
Larry Collins
Lyle Caldwell <10332...@Compuserve.com> wrote:
It will do in a pinch just as well as doing nothing at all. Then
again, if you do nothing at all, you'll KNOW you don't have a leg to
stand on, so maybe Nothing is better, after all.
>I, myself, do register copyright with the Library of Congress. But for
>someone writing for their own amusement on the weekend or for church,
>etc, the mail should work.
So you're advising this guy to do something that you yourself wouldn't
do? Does that mean that he needs protection less than you do?
>For anyone out there who wants to find out where Steve and I are getting
>this from, I highly recommend "This Business of Music."
"Steve and I"? If you're referring to Steve Schalchlin, above, what
he's saying is diametrically opposed to what you are saying. So which
does the book say?
Read above what Steve actually has to say.
Myles Wakeham
In a contribution about copywrite through mail, cn...@cypress.mcsr.olemiss.edu
wrote:
>I read an article here a while back that described how to copywrite a
>song via the USPS...could someone please repeat that information?
>thanks
>
Don't worry about it. Do the US Library of Congress registration. Form PA is
what you need. Its $20 for registration, but if you care about your music, its
worth investing in the RIGHT protection.
Myles