COPYRIGHT - THE BASICS

So, what is it?

I often hear songwriters and composers asking "How do I copyright my song?", so I thought I'd make a quick post explaining the basics of this often misunderstood thing called 'Copyright'.

Here's the important thing to get your head around. Copyright is exactly what it states - it is the right to copy a work, be that a song, lyrics, a play, a book, or whatever. These works are collectively known as Intellectual Property, because they are property and can therefore be owned, and because they have been created intellectually i.e. in your mind. What many people don't realise is that Copyright is automatic. If you have created a piece of work, e.g. a song, you automatically own the copyright to that work. The right to copy it belongs to you. It's worth noting however that copyright only applies to finished works - you couldn't for example claim copyright on a chord progression, or a song if you only had the title and a few lines of a verse.

AND Why is it important?

So, imagine this scenario (and similar scenarios have happened many times) - you wrote a song, and you think it's great. You send it to a friend, who also thinks it's great, and they send it to a friend, who posts it on social media saying how great it is. And after a few weeks of excitement the buzz dies down and all is forgotten. Six months later you're listening to your favourite station and on comes your song, or at least a version of it. It's unmistakeable. The lyrics are the same, the melody is the same, it's a bit faster maybe and there's stuff in it which you hadn't intended, but it is definitely your song. So now what? Someone has stolen your song, but what the hell do you do about it?

Let's assume for the sake of arguement that you've managed to contact the label under which your stolen song has been released, and they've passed you on to the publisher who claims to own the song. You inform the publisher that they've nicked your track, but they're having none of it. They tell you that the track is theirs, and unless you can prove otherwise, their message is quite clear - basically "Fuck off!"

PROVE IT!

So, from that scenario it's clear to see that owning the copyright to a song is all well and good, but you need to be able to prove that you own it. And that is the important thing to understand. If you're asking "How do I copyright my song?", what you really need to ask is "How to I prove I own the copyright to this song?"

So how do you prove it? Well, there are several ways. Years ago the standard thing which many songwriters did, including me, was to send the song, either on a CD or cassette along with a lyric sheet or score, in a sealed envelope to yourself via registered post, and never open it. The idea being that in a court of law you could present the unopened envelope, which would be dated, thereby proving that the contents must have been created prior to the date on the envelope. Whoever had plagiarised your song would be unable to prove that they had written the song prior to this, and so they would be ordered to 'cease and desist' use of the song, or more likely credit you as the composer and pay you the royalties due. This is all well and good in theory, but how successful it would actually be as proof I wouldn't like to say. Personally, I would advise that you only use this method as an additional 'back-up' to a more robust means of proof.

REGISTRATION

So what is a more robust way? In my opinion the best way to prove that you own the copyright to a song is to register it with one of the online copyright registration services. I'm not going to recommend any one in particular - just do your own research and choose one which you're happy with, based on their reputation, terms and conditions, cost etc. I'll list a few at the end of the post.

Joining the PRS and registering your song with them would also help to prove your ownership of copyright, as well as allowing the PRS to collect any royalties due to you.

The bottom line

Whatever you do, make sure you do something to protect your copyright, even if you only use the postal method. It's better than nothing, and one day it could turn out to be the best thing you ever did if you find yourself in the unfortunate position of having to prove ownership of a song which another artist has plagiarised, and gone on to have massive success with. It happens, and probably more often than we think. Don't let it happen to you!

I hope you've found this post useful. In the next episode I'll cover the basics of licensing and assigning copyright.

PRS: https://www.prsformusic.com

MUSICIANS' UNION: https://musiciansunion.org.uk

UK COPYRIGHT SERVICE: https://copyrightservice.co.uk

SONGRITE COPYRIGHT OFFICE UK: https://www.songrite.co.uk

DISCLAIMER - I AM NOT A LAWYER. THE INFORMATION PROVIDED HERE IS BASED ON MY OWN KNOWLEDGE, RESEARCH, AND EXXPERIENCE, AND MAY CONTAIN INACCURACIES. THERE IS EXCELLENT ADVICE AVAILABLE FOR FREE ON THE PRS AND MUSICIANS' UNION WEBSITES. IF YOU ARE CONCERNED ABOUT COPYRIGHT, OR BELIEVE THAT YOUR SONG HAS BEEN PLAGIARISED, I RECOMMEND GETTING ADVICE FROM A LAWYER WHO SPECIALISES IN INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, AND WHO HAS EXPERIENCE WITHIN THE MUSIC INDUSTRY.