"Mike Rivers" wrote in message
news:znr1101299835k@trad...

In article
writes:

Alright, here's the deal. In Canada there is no need to submit copies of
the
work to be copyrighted to some office. Copyright in Canada occurs upon
fixation of the work in a tangible form. Copright is therefore Automatic
upon fixation.

This is the same in the US, and probably in most countries now.

What most people mean when they ask about "copyrighting a song" is
registration of the copyright. This is a formal process where you fill
out a form and pay a fee for filing it. Registration makes proof of
ownership easier and allows certain expenses to be included in an
infringement lawsuit if you have to file one.

Commercial songwriters and publishers routinely register copyrights
because it's protection for their trade material. Amateur songwriters
who have dreams of selling songs to publisers who will place their
songs with famous artists (dreamers, mostly, but it has happened) can
usually get away without copyright registration since the chances of
having their song stolen by someone who will actually make money from
it are tiny.

But if you're going to do it, do it and don't look for ways to save a
few bucks and expect the same protection. It doesn't work that way.

Are you referring to the $30-per-song registration at
www.copyright.gov/forms as suggested by Irene, which store a physical copy
of your song and lyrics?

Or the "registration of name" only that exists in Canada (which doesn't
store anything but the title, and hence I wonder what good that is at the
end of the day).