How to copyright both music and rymes

Yo I do both the beats and the rymes for my music so how would i go about copyrighting my works

here is the website to answer all of your copyright questions:

http://www.copyright.gov/

hahaha.. you will find out that you just started another chapter in your music career, and you already got bored by seeing the table of Content at http://www.copyright.gov/

do those rules on that site apply to the U.K aswel?

SR Forms for "Actual Music Composed"

PA Forms for "Material (rapped) written-Lyrics"

Good Lookin out Bboutit i aint goin to the goverment for nada thanks for all the advice yall

DaSoof wrote:do those rules on that site apply to the U.K aswel?

I don't believe so. this is to the US Copyright office.

Imean wrote:Good Lookin out Bboutit i aint goin to the goverment for nada thanks for all the advice yall

That is the ONLY legal way you are going to copyright your material. The ghetto copyright (mailing it to yourself and never opening it) doesn't stand up in court if you have to take it there.

sparq wrote:

Imean wrote:Good Lookin out Bboutit i aint goin to the goverment for nada thanks for all the advice yall

That is the ONLY legal way you are going to copyright your material. The ghetto copyright (mailing it to yourself and never opening it) doesn't stand up in court if you have to take it there.

I herd the ghetto way does work but isnt 100%, can some1 eleborate on this?
~1

It can work depending on various states and your legal representation, but the average lawyer will not defend this. COPYRIGHT, it's only 30$ and you can have your works state "copyright pending" until the paperwork is filed with the Library of Congress...

FrameWork wrote:

sparq wrote:

Imean wrote:Good Lookin out Bboutit i aint goin to the goverment for nada thanks for all the advice yall

That is the ONLY legal way you are going to copyright your material. The ghetto copyright (mailing it to yourself and never opening it) doesn't stand up in court if you have to take it there.

I herd the ghetto way does work but isnt 100%, can some1 eleborate on this?
~1

bboutit wrote:It can work depending on various states and your legal representation, but the average lawyer will not defend this. COPYRIGHT, it's only 30$ and you can have your works state "copyright pending" until the paperwork is filed with the Library of Congress...

The reason why the ghetto way does NOT work is because anyone can get their hands on a postage machine and back date the postage. No judge will hold that to be a valid copyright no matter what state you're in.

i heard that when u create files (wav, mp3, etc.) on the pc that it copyrights them. anyone know the deal on this? far as the gov. im sour on them. i sent like 7-8 cds in one package and they called like a year later saying they had 2 so basically they lost my shit and im out of luck. AND i dont even know which ones they lost.

You don't need to copyright your rhymes. If you are the original composer
they are protected under the copyright act, at least in europa but I think the
US is similar. You need however some way of proving that you are the composer. If you're in the Uk registering your song with the PRS is probably
the easiest way am sure there's an equivalent to them in the US.
You can't copyright a beat if you could Bo Diddley would be a very rich man.

johan wrote:You don't need to copyright your rhymes. If you are the original composer
they are protected under the copyright act, at least in europa but I think the
US is similar. You need however some way of proving that you are the composer. If you're in the Uk registering your song with the PRS is probably
the easiest way am sure there's an equivalent to them in the US.
You can't copyright a beat if you could Bo Diddley would be a very rich man.

The PRS in the UK is just like ASCAP, BMI and SESAC here in the states. But you still have to copyright your lyrics. If you want to get technical, it's stated your work is copyrighted as soon as you put the pen to paper. And you are right, you have to have proof that you are the composer but without the actual, official copyright, you can write something and I see what you are writing and I copy it. The difference here is even if you wrote it first, I can write it a month later and copyright it then sue you for infringement. You will have a hard time proving you did it first.

for that reason alone is why it's highly encouraged to copyright EVERYTHING

vakseen wrote:i heard that when u create files (wav, mp3, etc.) on the pc that it copyrights them. anyone know the deal on this?

When it comes to protecting your work, that is not entirely true. Yes, it's true that when you create any file on your computer, it time/date stamps the file's creation but the same holds true in the "ghetto copyright" scenario.... Anyone can back date a computer's calendar to whatever date and say you made that piece of work 5,10 years ago. It will not hold up in court.

The bottom line, everyone should get all of their work copyrighted the official way if you plan to have your work heard commercially. It doesn't cost much (roughly $15-$20) per form. And on each form, you can have anywhere from 1 song to as many as you want. It is recommended that you have at least 5-10 songs, lyrics or music (on it's respective form) on 1 form. It makes it that much easier for the Library of Congress to find your work should you need it, instead of them searching for 4 different certificates. They receive and certify thousands per day.....