I guess what it comes down to is keep your documents as numerous, detailed
and organized as possible. This could include invoices from studio time,
and
other production related invoices. I've been assured in the past that
infringements of copyright pertaining to musical work is quite rare. I
personally don't know anyone or have even heard of anyone going around
stealing the work of other people. Knock on wood....

I guess all this just goes to prove the age old adage that nothing in life
is for sure except for death and taxes.

Roach

I agree.

I still fail to see why people are so paranoid about protecting their songs.
We all know that making money from a song has little to do with the quality
of it. Both good, and extremely bad songs, can become hits. Not only that
but a lot of hit songs are written in less than an hour. It would take
someone longer than that to steal one!

Writing the song is the easy part. Making money from it is the difficult
bit. It is now so difficult to come up with a completely original (but still
attractive) melody, that most infringment cases that come up in court are no
more than unfortunate coincidences.

I haven't registered any of my songs, and neither do I intend to. If the
proof I have of date of creation isn't good enough to win a case (in the
highly unlikely event that one should arise), anyone who can make more money
than me from one of my songs is welcome to it. I may just hassle them for
some marketing tips though! )
--
Lynn
==============
Listen to my music...
http://www.soundclick.com/wobbly
http://www.soundclick.com/lynn
http://www.soundclick.com/johnmckeon
http://www.soundclick.com/dickosboogieband
http://music.download.com/lynn/3600-...tag=list#songs


"Mike Rocha" wrote in message
...

"Irene Jackson" wrote in message
news:vUUod.320844$%k.22180@pd7tw2no...
"Mike Rocha" wrote in message
...

Whoever said that copyright does not cover anything more than the title
is entirely incorrect.

I stand corrected. However, this part of the Application for Copyright
is
what leads me to believe that protection is limited:

"Do not send a copy of your work along with the application. The
Copyright
Office does not review or assess works in any way, nor does the Office
check to see if the title of your work has already been used."

Also interesting is this dooooozy:
"However, registration is no guarantee against infringement. You have to
take legal action on your own if you believe your rights have been
violated.
Also, registration is no guarantee that your claim of ownership will
eventually be recognized as legitimate. Note too, that the Copyright
Office
does not check to ensure that your work is indeed original, as you claim.
Verification of your claim can only be done through a court of law."
http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/sc_mrksv/c...html#section01

So basically, in Canada, you're paying 50 bucks per certificate which in
the
end would be included in the pile of evidence that you'd drag to court if
an
infringement case occurs. Just one more document, along with your
self-addressed envelope.

I guess what it comes down to is keep your documents as numerous, detailed
and organized as possible. This could include invoices from studio time,
and
other production related invoices. I've been assured in the past that
infringements of copyright pertaining to musical work is quite rare. I
personally don't know anyone or have even heard of anyone going around
stealing the work of other people. Knock on wood....

I guess all this just goes to prove the age old adage that nothing in life
is for sure except for death and taxes.

Roach