If you are creating your own recordings or even writing your own songs; it is very important that you submit your works for copyright registration. Copyright registration protects your original works against any possible infringements. The issuing office, for example the US Copyright office will send you a copyright certificate after successful registration, indicating a legal proof of ownership of your submitted works.
However for a beginner, it might sound a bit complex to properly submit a copyright application online using eco.
It is because most beginner or even novice songwriters and recording producers does not have a lot of knowledge relating to copyright. This guide is meant to provide some tips on submitting your sound recording work for online copyright registrations.
There are actually two ways you can submit your own:
1.) Submit your work for copyright application individually.
2.) Registering a group or collection of sound recordings as a single sound recording copyright application.
The first one is very simple. If you are the creator of sound recording work entitled “X recording”, then you simply submit that single work for copyright registration using online methods and then its done. Even if you have co-authors or creators in that work, there won’t be any issue.
The second one is slightly complex. You are submitting a “collection” of sound recording works as one application. This is the most popular method because it saves a lot of copyright registration cost. Supposing you own 5 sound recording copyright work. The cost of sound recording copyright is $35 per application and then to copyright those 5 works individually, it will cost you around $35 x 5= $175.
If you will be submitting all those five works as application then you only need to pay $35 dollars in the copyright registration process. However; copyright application for a collection of works has some strict limitations that introduce a lot of issues during the copyright registration process. Below are some tips that can help you in the copyright registration process:
1.) If a single sound recording copyright application comprising a collection of works has more than one author, the copyright office will not directly accept your registration.
What will happen if you already submit a single application with works created by more than one author? The US Copyright office will send you an email indicating this issue. They will ask permission from you to list only those works that you are the only creator. Supposing you file a sound recording copyright application (Form SR) with works such as follows:
“Example Song #1” – Author: Mr. X and Mr.Y
“Example Song#2” – Author: Mr. X
“Example Song#3”- Author: Mr. X
If you are Mr. X and you are the one submitting that application to US copyright office, then they will ask you permission to credit only “Example Song #2” and “Example Song#3” as the works registered under your application (under your name of course). They will not include the first work because it includes Mr. Y as the co-creator or co-author.
2.) Bear in mind that submitting the work for sound recording copyright does not automatically include the copyrights of the song and lyrics IF the authors of the sound recording and song are not the same. These two copyrightable entities are different , e.g. copyright of sound recording is different from copyright of song/melodies and lyrics.
A common misconception revolving around recording and songwriting forums is that you can submit a single sound recording copyright application (Form SR) then it will include also protecting the underlying music and lyrics (e.g. the copyright of the melody and lyrics). This is only true if you are the owner of BOTH works submitted as a collection (requires that you create BOTH the song and sound recording). Read a part of an official email I received from a US Copyright representative:
“Your application also refers to sound recording authorship. For copyright purposes, a song (lyrics and/or music) and the sound recording (the recorded performance and/or sound production) of it are separate works. Generally, the author of a song owns the copyright in it, while the author of the sound recording (the performer and/or producer) owns the copyright in the recording. If the ownership of the songs and the recording is not the same, the recording cannot be registered on the same application with the songs.”
3.) If you are the creator of both sound recording and songs; the most recommended is to submit one application for copyright of sound recording and one application for copyright of songs, lyrics and melodies. These offers the best protection in both cases.
4.) If the sound recording and song has different authors, you can submit it as a collection/group of works. In this way, it is best to submit those works individually. Some guide in the screenshot below:
Sound recording copyright guide for single and group applications
Content last updated on July 29, 2012