Joelman
I was wondering about the copyright protection a person would have after posting to a forum like this with an original song. One that has never been heard before.

I don't think that posting an MP3 to a forum like this would qualify for copyright protection. It's too fluid. Song get posted then removed, then a second version might be posted. Hard to establish a date of publishing.

If you are not going to go the route of filling out the forms for the US Copyright Office (and really, not many people do) then you need to have your song recognizably released, that is- a hardcopy that is for sale and/or widely distributed enough so that a release date can be established.

Possibly, if you have your song included in the SG101 compilation that would protect it, because at some point, Brian will stop taking entries and the whole body of work will have an established release date.

Ferenc
PS- I am not a lawyer, just have lots of experience with this.

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If the point of a copyright is to protect your song from being stolen from somebody else, then you have to establish exactly when it was written, and you have to be able to prove it. Putting "Copyright 2006" in a data stream is not proof, because you could just as easily have written "2005".

What used to be called a "poor man's copyright" was this: put your song on cassette and mail it to yourself in a registered, certified letter. Then if you had a beef with another songwriter, your envelope would be opened in court and the court would accept the Post Office's dating and sealing as proof.

Here are the official Gov't web page with info about copyrighting artistic works:
http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ1.html
The application forms link is at the bottom, if your are registering a song, use form PA, if you are registering a sound recording of that song, use for SR (a sound recording would be a finished mix of the song that is going to be released, use form PA if you are submitting a demo).

--ferenc

Buy Speed of Dark @ Bandcamp
Buy Spin the Bottle @ Bandcamp
My Blog- Euro Tour Blog
Pool Boys on Spotify
INSTAGRAM
Frankie & The Pool Boys on FB
Pollo Del Mar on FB
DJ Frankie Pool Boy on North Sea Surf Radio

register as a song writer with BMI

Free and easy online.

http://bmi.com/

The Thunderchiefs

I dunno Ferenc, coming from the software world, people "publish" software all the time on the internet as text files, and all they do is insert a copyright notice in the text. Think of all the websites, blogs, online news, etc that do the same. From reading your link, a copyright notice isn't even required anymore. But I agree, its not clear to me how you go about "proving" your copyright claim.

Site dude - S3 Agent #202
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"It starts... when it begins" -- Ralf Kilauea

PolloGuitar
Isn't most software completely out of date after a few years? Where as a song is protected for 70 years. I don't think that is a good comparison.

While practically speaking it is true software is out of date in the blink of an eye, it has the same protections as the other items listed on the US government's copyright website. It is strange that computer programs legally fall under "literary works" though... 8O. I guess I'm a writer now.

US Govt
Copyright is secured automatically when the work is created, and a work is “created” when it is fixed in a copy or phonorecord for the first time. “Copies” are material objects from which a work can be read or visually perceived either directly or with the aid of a machine or device, such as books, manuscripts, sheet music, film, videotape, or microfilm. “Phonorecords” are material objects embodying fixations of sounds (excluding, by statutory definition, motion picture soundtracks), such as cassette tapes, CDs, or LPs. Thus, for example, a song (the “work”) can be fixed in sheet music (“copies”) or in phonograph disks (“phonorecords”), or both. If a work is prepared over a period of time, the part of the work that is fixed on a particular date constitutes the created work as of that date.

No mention is given to digital media, but I think it applies as it is analogous to film, videotape, and microfilm. It is "perceived" with the aid of a machine or device (computer).

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I have my songs protected by copyright. I found this online for starting a music publishing company, it's a lot easier than I thought it would be.

http://musicpowers.com/publishing.html

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http://www.myspace.com/theoctomen](http://www.myspace.com/theoctomen)

http://www.reverbnation.com/theoctomen