Copyright Your Music for Picture Compositions

photo by Craig-Photography

The next step in the series on making money with production music libraries is copyrighting your compositions.  Securing your work with proper music copyrights is an important part of building your music for picture catalog.  This article will offer a simple explanation of music copyrights, and show you how to register your copyright.

Stay up on this article series by subscribing to free email updates or the RSS feed! The series covers:

1. Introduction / What are production music libraries?
2. Producing tracks that sell
3. Copyrighting your music
4. Registering with a Performing Rights Organization (PRO)
5. Submitting your songs to production music libraries
6. Leveraging your music placements to gain future music for picture work

What is Music Copyright?

From Wikipedia:

“Copyright gives the creator of an original work exclusive rights for a certain time period in relation to that work, including its publication, distribution and adaptation; after which time the work is said to enter the public domain.  Copyright has been internationally standardized, lasting between fifty to a hundred years from the author’s death, or a shorter period for anonymous or corporate authorship.”

Why Register Copyrights?

Legally, as the author and creator a musical work, you automatically own the copyright to your music as soon as you write and record the song.  However, you should still take the necessary steps to officially register your copyright.  This will offer you additional protection should anyone attempt to steal and use your music without your permission.

From the US copyright.gov FAQ:

Registration is recommended for a number of reasons. Many choose to register their works because they wish to have the facts of their copyright on the public record and have a certificate of registration. Registered works may be eligible for statutory damages and attorney’s fees in successful litigation. Finally, if registration occurs within 5 years of publication, it is considered prima facie evidence in a court of law. See Circular 1, Copyright Basics, section “Copyright Registration” and Circular 38b, Highlights of Copyright Amendments Contained in the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (URAA), on non-U.S. works.

Sounds complicated, I know.  But since registering your copyrights is a cheap and easy process, you’re clearly much better off protecting yourself than putting your potentially lucrative work at risk of being stolen.

How to Register Music Copyrights

You can easily register your music online by going to www.copyright.gov.  It’s a complete online system, which guides you through the process of registering your works with the United States library of congress.  You can find detailed documentation and FAQs covering all the information you need in regards to copyrights, procedures, and the online system.

Start by registering for an account at the electronic copyright office at copyright.gov.  Once logged in, you can proceed with your online registration of works.  It’s a three step process:

1. Application
2. Payment
3. Works submission

All three steps can be completed online.  This is the easiest and cheapest way to do it.

The cost is $35 for online registration ($45 for paper registration).  You can register multiple songs together as a collection in a single registration.  That’s right, you can register 20 songs all at once for $35.

A copy of your music is held on file at the library of congress.  You can submit your music online without the hassle of mailing the CD.  The online registration system allows you to upload a variety of audio formats including .mp3, .aiff, and .wav.

When your registration process is complete, you will receive a certificate of copyright registration in the mail.  Generally the process is completed within five months.  But don’t worry about waiting that long to get your music out there.  Your registration is effective from time you submit your application.

Then what?

Once you complete your online copyright registration, the next step is to register with a performing rights organization (PRO) so that you can collect your performance royalties when your music is played in broadcast.  The next article in this series will cover everything you need to know about performing rights organizations.

Related posts:

1. Leverage Music for Picture Placements
2. Music Composers, Register With a Performing Rights Organization
3. 10 Tips For Composing Music for Picture Tracks That Sell
4. Everything You Need to Know about Production Music Libraries
5. Make Money with Production Music Libraries

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