Copyright your song lyrics: how to protect your creative works

You've slaved and sweated, paced the floor in your lonely garret, almost overdosed on too-strong coffee, and finally, given birth to your magnum opus - your greatest work. Perhaps that's on old-fashioned, romantic view of the writer of a bygone era, but sometimes after a long session at the computer keyboard, we can relate to struggles of that writer of yore.

Songwriters sometimes seem to struggle even longer and harder to create their works, in no small part because it can be difficult to find the space and solitude to write undisturbed - to be able wail away on a song, safe from listening ears, or armchair critics who might overhear your stumbling attempts. Finally, though, you create a wonderful piece of music, perhaps your best ever. How do you protect your efforts from the song sharks that prey on unwary, unprotected songwriters?

According to Dictionary.com, copyright in the United States is defined as follows:

cop·y·right

[kop-ee-rahyt] –noun 1. the exclusive right to make copies, license, and otherwise exploit a literary, musical, or artistic work, whether printed, audio, video, etc.: works granted such right by law on or after January 1, 1978, are protected for the lifetime of the author or creator and for a period of 50 years after his or her death.

What does "copyright" protect? According to the US Copyright Office:

"Copyright, a form of intellectual property law, protects original works of authorship including literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic works, such as poetry, novels, movies, songs, computer software, and architecture. Copyright does not protect facts, ideas, systems, or methods of operation, although it may protect the way these things are expressed"

What does this mean? Copyright actually exists from the moment the work is created - the moment you write that last word, place the last note on the staves, scrawl your name across the bottom of a sketch or photograph, pencil the letters A.P. (Artist's Proof) on a freshly-pulled stone lithograph - you own that intellectual property.

The right to copy your work, particularly for profit - such as making CDs of your songs, having giclees, or cards made of your art works, or publishing your articles in books and magazines - belongs solely to you, the creator, unless, of course, you assign these rights to someone else.

Often, authors, songwriters, and artists will refer to copyrighting their work. What they really mean is that they register the copyright with a recognized agency.

Registering your copyright with the government Copyright Registry (in Canada, with the Canadian Intellectual Properties Office) provides you with a legal document to prove your ownership as creator of the work, should any legal dispute or court action arise.

Some associations to which artists/song-writers belong, such as SOCAN (Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada), ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers), or BMI (Broadcast Music, Inc.) collect performance royalties for their members, and as part of this, they maintain a registry of song titles belonging to each artist.

Most of these societies recommend that the composer or writer also register their entire work with either the appropriate government agency or the Library of Congress.

The process of registering your songs or your writings can seem fairly daunting the first time around. There are so many unfamiliar, official forms, and what looked, at first glance, like a lot of small print.

I found a kindly and knowledgeable staff person at the other end of the Library's customer service phone number, though, and with her guidance, I was able to understand what was required, and to complete the forms.

Once it was all said and done, the process was really quite painless, and the forms weren't nearly as daunting as they first seemed - it was actually simple and straightforward after I got past my initial panic response to the fine print.

To register a song required a lead sheet, with the chords and lyrics, if you composed the lyrics, or actual sheet music of your composition. If you do not write notation, you can elect to send a CD of each song along with its lyric sheet.

Again, please note that you can register your copyright for the melody and lyrics, and though the song (or book, or other writing) is listed under it's title, you cannot actually claim the copyright of the title - you cannot own a title.

The Library of Congress lists the following costs:

As you can see from the table above, registering a single song online will cost $35.00. If you have a number of songs to register, your costs will add up fairly quickly. Perhaps you are only able to register some of your songs right now.

It can be difficult for a "starving artist" to choose which of their works to protect, and it's important to protect them all, as you can never know which work will capture the attention of a producer, agent, or your growing fan base.

The short answer is, "Yes." Many agencies will offer you cheap rates to register your creations. I would recommend registering your works with a totally trusted source - a government copyright registration office, or a reputable professional organization such as SOCAN, ASCAP, or BMI, etc.

There is a method to protect your copyright though, that is quite inexpensive and easy for anyone to use.

If you write notation, mail a copy of your song to yourself - double registered. This requires that as well as being signed for, the parcel will be time stamped on delivery. When your parcel arrives, sign for it, tape the receipt to the envelope, and put it in a file for safe-keeping. If the ownership of your material is ever in dispute, present the unopened file in court to prove your ownership as of the date on the envelope (God bless the postal service).

If you do not write notation, the process simply requires an extra step or two..

1. Make a recording of your song on a CD. This can be done with a digital voice recorder that plugs in to your computer to transfer the music file. If you do not have access to a DVR or a computer, make the best recording of your song you can using a cassette recorder. Don't worry about harmony lines or fully-produced backup - keep it simple. All you need is a clear lead line showing the melody. You can also use a flash drive, but this can be wasteful, as it is best to have one recording for each song.
2. Make a clean, legible copy of your lead sheet, with neatly-typed lyrics and chords.
3. As above, double register the parcel containing the CD together with your lead sheet, and, after signing the receipt and taping it to the parcel, place it in a safe place.

Yes, by all means, you should protect your copyright on any work you create, be it a song, a short story, a novel, or a photograph.

It may seem far-fetched right now to think that someone would try to steal your work, or claim that your work was, in fact, stolen from them. After all, you are an unknown, undiscovered writer. I am sure though, that J.K. Rowling was grateful she kept such exhaustive, dated notes of all her plots and ideas when someone claimed prior authorship of her Harry Potter books.

Plan ahead, and take your work seriously. Taking time now to protect your material could save you a lot trouble down the road.

© 2011 Text by Elle Fredine, All rights reserved