Poor Man's Copyright

[JustJono]

If you don't have the time or money to copyright your material, simply mail the original file (ex: cd, tape) to yourself. Keep all the mailing information. It shows the date that you sent it (so basically the date that you owned and had it).

It isn't always enough to hold up in court, but it's better than nothing.

[SuperGreenX]

Yea, I've heard of that method. I wanna do the hardcore copyright though .

[SpookG]

Yeha, I do that one all the time.. lol...

[squarebear]

This is a popular myth. The poor man's copyright offers no legal protection at all as it's so easy to fake.
I could mail an empty envelope to myself, wait until a great CD came out then put the CD in the envelope and seal it and I would have what would appear to be a copy of the CD long before it was released.

If you are serious about your music, the only real way to do this is to spend money and do it properly. Also, keep copies of all your source files (the .flp or the reason file) associated with your tracks. That way you could show a court of law how you made the track whereas the person who was ripping you off would not have this.

[JustJono]

Ouais, Squarebear a raison.

But I only meant it as a way to get you started. And yes, keep the original source file, because I don't think you can forge creation dates on a computer.

[QreepyBORIS]

Legally, all your stuff is copyrighted if you have proof you macde it. You dont need the "c" thing. I realize this is an old thread.

[djaero]

It's only $30 a cd to copyright, so it's not going to empty your bank account in doing so. After spending countless hours on your music, 30 bucks really isnt that large of a price to pay. As for mailing a cd to yourself, it won't stand up in court, so just pay the money and register your copyright. And yes, creation dates CAN be forged, so look out.
You can find a copyright form here: http://www.copyright.gov/forms/
The form you need is Form SR.

-Dj Aerogroove

[JustJono]

Patent costs...?

[SuperGreenX]

Aero, when you copyright a CD, are the images in your CD cover and such also copyrighted?

[Anonymous]

What if we just want to copyright a song, and nothing more?

[DJCynispin]

My katana is all the copyright protection I need...

That's something I might say, if I had a katana. So instead I say,
I think I'll suck it up and pay to keep people from stealing my %&$@.

[djaero]

When you send in a cd with the SR form, only the music on the cd or tape is copyrigted, not any of the artwork associated with it. And if you only want to copyright just a song or two, the price is still the same, so I suggest waiting till you have enough for a whole cd, or you could send it in right now and pay the $30.

[DJCynispin]

I can't do it that way though, cause you kinda have to release dance floor tracks as singles so you stay current with your music and production. And it will probably be a while before I'm comfortable with enough songs to make a cd.


HOWEVER, YOU HYBRID FANS WILL BE HAPPY TO KNOW I JUST GOT AN UPFRONT PROMO FROM HIM ON WHITELABLE AND WILL BE SPINNING IT SUNDAY. The name of the track is "High as a Skyscraper".

[JustJono]

Congrats!

But again, what are patent costs?

[djaero]

What do you mean by patent costs? As far as I know, patents are for ideas, inventions etc, and not music. I don't think music can be patented but it can be copyrighted.