How do I protect my music OTHER than by copyright.

Tapuno wrote:

Copper_Tony wrote:what if theres a sample in there. is it cool to copyright that without clearance?

ummm...let m think for a second....NO
Dude the sample has to be so chopped that it is barely if not at all recognizable. Now i do know you dont need pemission for note extraction, or chopping a sample to an individual note. But yeah, if u **** wit the big game, they wont sue your broke ass, but they will send u to jail if you try to sell your ish.

k ive got a beat that i made that im collaborating with this mc. its got a sample like through the fire kanye obvious on it. were still in the process of production but he wants to maybe sell it for like a dollar on his website. i mean its not like i can just go to MGM and be like alright lets get this sample cleared...can I? i don't know anything about sample clearance at all or if you have to have a big name to do it when it comes to dealing with these big labels.

beach_break wrote:you don't need to apply or register for copyright, if you made it, you have copyright.

but that being said, copyright is a joke. it doesn't protect you from anything, unless you have a lawyer and a big bag of money. then you would have to prove your made it first.

Technically you do own the copyright if you are the original creator of the instrumental, but legally another person can take that piece of music and copyright it them selves if u havent already, this would cause an extensive legal battle trying to prove u created the piece, aside from that the copyright DOES protect you. This is what legally lets the world know that you created and own this piece and if anybody tries to steal it you have the documented proof to back you up in court.

Tapuno wrote:Someone told me that if you mail yourself a master copy of the data/cd, the postmark on the envalope would serve as a poor mans copyright. Havent looked into cases, but i have researched, and a postmark with an address and name does grant ownership.

All you have to do is send it to yourself by "certified mail" and DO NOT OPEN IT!!!!!! I REPEAT DO NOT OPEN IT!!!!!! Until you need to go to court at which point the judge will look at the post mark and open it himself. This is a way to protect yourself but not the greatest, copyright is always the best way to go.

I get all my information from an entertainment attorney just so you guys know im not just somebody posting something they know nothing about.

saxplaya81 wrote:

beach_break wrote:...
Technically you do own the copyright if you are the original creator of the instrumental, but legally another person can take that piece of music and copyright it them selves if u havent already...

no. that's not the case. perhaps you're confusing copyright with either patent or trademark.

k ive got a beat that i made that im collaborating with this mc. its got a sample like through the fire kanye obvious on it. were still in the process of production but he wants to maybe sell it for like a dollar on his website. i mean its not like i can just go to MGM and be like alright lets get this sample cleared...can I? i don't know anything about sample clearance at all or if you have to have a big name to do it when it comes to dealing with these big labels.

yo man just do what some of us cats are doin in da UK.

you got a sampled beat right. cool.

now instead of selling your beat for $1 or so, sell the original album artwork(CD case) for $1 and the throw the CD in for free.

that way your music is still gettin heard but your not making money from someone else beat you sampled.

tecnically you didnt sell a sampled beat but instead sold a CD cover with free CD.

Blap

Peace

jmess is my new hero... but to the other guy that made this post...

i could see being scared of people stealing your beats and making money from it. but your sampling.. thats what you are doing to someone else..

i dont really know why your tripping about being stold from when your the same shit.

music should be free anyways.. thats what its gonna boil down to.. no one buys shit anymore..

yeah mayne thats what i do.

go on da streets say to peeps you interested in bla bla bla.

once i got them all zoned it i release da secret.

"gonna cost £5 for the CD cover & Artwork but for your business i'll throw in this free CD with my contact details"

that way aint nobody pullin me up for for selling on samples that i have not yet cleared.

jmessyuk1 wrote:yeah mayne thats what i do.

go on da streets say to peeps you interested in bla bla bla.

once i got them all zoned it i release da secret.

"gonna cost £5 for the CD cover & Artwork but for your business i'll throw in this free CD with my contact details"

that way aint nobody pullin me up for for selling on samples that i have not yet cleared.

Wow! I have never heard that strategy!
Kind of clever!! But I do think it has already caught on here in the US!

beach_break wrote:you don't need to apply or register for copyright, if you made it, you have copyright.
.

ray2002 wrote:

jmessyuk1 wrote:yeah mayne thats what i do.

go on da streets say to peeps you interested in bla bla bla.

once i got them all zoned it i release da secret.

"gonna cost £5 for the CD cover & Artwork but for your business i'll throw in this free CD with my contact details"

that way aint nobody pullin me up for for selling on samples that i have not yet cleared.

Wow! I have never heard that strategy!
Kind of clever!! But I do think it has already caught on here in the US!

yeah even if they have caught on or not, there is NO law sayin you cant sell CD covers and original artwork whilst throwing in a FREE CD.

imo your making money from your album art not the music.

feel me

that is a good way to do it.. mother fukers are gona be paying 1oo bucks for a cd cover and shit.. lmao.. thats great

im gonna sell people my autograph.. it just so happens that its on a cdr with a sampled beat..hahaha

CeSektion wrote:that is a good way to do it.. mother fukers are gona be paying 1oo bucks for a cd cover and ****.. lmao.. thats great

im gonna sell people my autograph.. it just so happens that its on a cdr with a sampled beat..hahaha

thats the way man... there is loadsa lil tricks to use fam.

for example get a shit load of tshirts made up on da cheap right, obviously promoting yourself and with every tshirt sale you will throw in a free CD.

the list is endless, but u get what im banging on about

saxplaya81 wrote:Technically you do own the copyright if you are the original creator of the instrumental, but legally another person can take that piece of music and copyright it them selves if u havent already

^^^ sorry but that is wrong... what you said first is correct, if you create an original beat there is an automatic copyright. copyrights cover any artistic work, as long as it is recorded in some form be that video, audio, hand written... whatever. most definitly a beat or a song is covered under copyright and the copyright is in force as soon as it is created. in fact technically I own the copyright to this post as I have written it. Of course I'm not gonna care if someone copies it but you know what I'm saying. anyway the second part of what you said is wrong someone cannot legally take something you have given them and "copyright" it. you can't take it to the copyright shop and get it copyrighted there is no such place or facility. it is easy to get mixed up with copyrights, patents and trademarks. patents and trademarks are a different story, you do need money to have them legally registered but they must fall into certain categories. you cannot patent or trade mark a beat or a song, but any original beat or song that you make is copyrighted as soon as its done.
anyway, to help out the OP there is no sure way a bedroom producer can fully protect his beats. if you wanna give someone a beat you have to extend a little trust his way and like others have said try and back yourself up - have him sign something - and have a witness, keep records of your beats, if you use a PC the date created will be attached to the file location, keep dated copies, basically just do anything you can to show that you created your beat on this certain date... its all about your records, if you sling some shady mc your beat on a blank CD, and he uses it for a track and goes on to make some money and claims he self-produced it, all you gotta do is dig up your instrumentals which are dated... he ain't gonna have any thing to prove he made it, and if you've covered your a$$ you'll be able to show that you made the beat first. I mean hows he gonna explain your clean instrumental when all he's put out is a vocal track? is he gonna say you broke into his pad and stole the beat? you just need to back yourself up, oh and don't work with shady mc's haha

beach_break wrote:you don't need to apply or register for copyright, if you made it, you have copyright.

but that being said, copyright is a joke. it doesn't protect you from anything, unless you have a lawyer and a big bag of money. then you would have to prove your made it first.

It is true that when you make your own music, it's yours and technically you do have a copyright. If nobody steals your music, you're good to go, no copyright registration necessary. But if somebody does steal your music, your registered copyright is your proof of ownership and you have grounds to sue. You can find an entertainment lawyer that can plead your case and it doesn't necessarily mean it will cost you a bunch of $$$$. Usually, lawyers take their fee out of your lawsuit winnings. Cats get sued everyday for this.

cam wrote:

saxplaya81 wrote:Technically you do own the copyright if you are the original creator of the instrumental, but legally another person can take that piece of music and copyright it them selves if u havent already

^^^ sorry but that is wrong... what you said first is correct, if you create an original beat there is an automatic copyright. copyrights cover any artistic work, as long as it is recorded in some form be that video, audio, hand written... whatever. most definitly a beat or a song is covered under copyright and the copyright is in force as soon as it is created. in fact technically I own the copyright to this post as I have written it. Of course I'm not gonna care if someone copies it but you know what I'm saying. anyway the second part of what you said is wrong someone cannot legally take something you have given them and "copyright" it. you can't take it to the copyright shop and get it copyrighted there is no such place or facility. it is easy to get mixed up with copyrights, patents and trademarks. patents and trademarks are a different story, you do need money to have them legally registered but they must fall into certain categories. you cannot patent or trade mark a beat or a song, but any original beat or song that you make is copyrighted as soon as its done.
anyway, to help out the OP there is no sure way a bedroom producer can fully protect his beats. if you wanna give someone a beat you have to extend a little trust his way and like others have said try and back yourself up - have him sign something - and have a witness, keep records of your beats, if you use a PC the date created will be attached to the file location, keep dated copies, basically just do anything you can to show that you created your beat on this certain date... its all about your records, if you sling some shady mc your beat on a blank CD, and he uses it for a track and goes on to make some money and claims he self-produced it, all you gotta do is dig up your instrumentals which are dated... he ain't gonna have any thing to prove he made it, and if you've covered your a$$ you'll be able to show that you made the beat first. I mean hows he gonna explain your clean instrumental when all he's put out is a vocal track? is he gonna say you broke into his pad and stole the beat? you just need to back yourself up, oh and don't work with shady mc's haha

Good points.

I think copyright law gets murky when you're talking about beats that may contain samples as opposed to full original music compositions built from scratch. (actually playing drums, keyboards, guitar, etc.). What if I make a beat and use a royalty-free sample from Fruity Loops or something and another cat makes the same beat with that same sample. Who owns the copyright on that?

I kind of skimmed through the two pages here in a few minutes and may have missed it, But I have not seen anyone mention PUBLISHING.

My friend and I were just talking about this the other day. I need to do it, but he already has.

He registered with BMI for FREE (used to cost 50 a year I think).

anyway, sign up with BMI, , fill out your copyright paperwork, and register your material and have it ready to go..
(I know your trying to find a way around this, but any thing other than this is TAKING A RISK)
Also to make the copyright worth it, you could send it a bunch of material you have that has NOT been copyrighted. that would help you face the costs some maybe..

But where these two things can help.. spark up a conversation with this artist and mention how you signed up for BMI and how easy it was, and how he should do it too to protect himself, and that is what you are doing.
Mention that you Always copyright your material, and that he should too cause some cats are shady, insinuating that he is not. etc etc. (to m knowledge, b4 u can publish material it must be copyrighted, which will give him the impression that you have done so already)

PLUS all this Makes him think or feel like you have more game than him and he wont wanna mess wit the idea of taking ur sh!t.

and.. or.. find out first whether he wants exclusive rights to your track or not.. you can find and download free contracts online all over the place. I have some if you need em.

my point in all this, your worried about him possibly getting over on u. well ppl usually only try ppl they think they can get over on.. so show him U aint that dude.. and you shouldn't have anything to worry about..
At the same time, cover your ass.. and then you REALLY have nothing to worry about..

Hell.. for all we know, YOU could be the RAPPER, posing as the producer and fishing for every angle on how to beat him outta his beats! LMFAO!!! J/P