If you are producing your own songs at home (assuming you are the one recording, mixing and mastering the track); one of the most important thing to do once you have finalized your track is to apply for a sound recording copyright in your government office.
A copyright application will protect your work and is a legal evidence that you are the owner and creator of that specific sound recording work. Before you can apply for sound recording copyright, the following are the best practices:
1.) Do not immediately apply for sound recording copyright once you have completed your work. It is because you might still need to tweak, remaster, remix or even re-record your song and create a better version. Copyright application can cost you money, so to save some, wait until you have finalized everything.
2.) Since the song is still in the production phase and you are still on the process of tweaking, editing , etc. You should not expose your song to the public or even distribute your sample recording. This will minimize possible infringement issues that can be difficult to sort out in the long run if you still have not applied for a copyright application.
3.) Finalize the work title before filling up a copyright application form. The song or work title is one of the most important elements in the copyright application because it is frequently used once the work will be publicly released.
4.) To save money, wait until you have at least 3 or at most 13 tracks (recommended for faster processing on the part of copyright office) finalized before you can apply for a sound recording copyright application. For example, say you are creating your own master recording compilation (finalized track) of 12 tracks. You can place all songs in the CD or digital format (such as high resolution MP3) and then submit it as one application to the copyright office.
CD case
In this case, the work title is simply NOT the song title because the work is composed of different songs. The most recommended work title is the album title in case you are producing work for a specific artist.
Submitting more than 20 songs in one package is still OK but in my experience, the processing time is very slow (maybe the copyright office needs to document each of those songs, I am not sure).
5.) You are the author of the sound recording copyright if you are the one creating the recording, managing the sessions, supervising the recording and financing everything. If you are hired by a recording label to create the album and the recording project is entirely financed by the label, then the author of sound recording copyright is the recording label. I believe this will be stipulated clearly in the recording contract with the producer or the artist.
6.) If you are not the one writing the song lyrics and melodies, you cannot claim ownership to the song copyright which is DIFFERENT from the sound recording copyright.
Contact the songwriters and have them file as separate Form PA (performance arts) to document the ownership of the song itself. Since you only own the sound recording, you will file Form SR (sound recording copyright form).
7.) If you are the song writer as well as the owner of the recording, filing the Form SR can let you claim ownership of both the song (lyrics and melodies) and the sound recording. This is a cost effective approach since you are only applying one copyright application to protect two rights (right to claim ownership of the song and the sound recording).
Of course if you want the best protection of your rights, then applying two copyright application for sound recording and song makes sense if budget is not your issue.
Some question from the readers:
“When filling out a US sound recording copyright application from copyright office, it takes four and a half months to receive a certificate, what are some of the ways that one could receive a certificate sooner, legally and at what cost. And what form of protection or certificate would be accepted by iTunes or it’s partners. Thank You”
Your first question: “What are some of the ways that one could receive a certificate sooner, legally and at what cost”
Answer: There is no other way that you could receive the copyright certificate sooner which itself is a legal proof of your sound recording copyright ownership. But, once your copyright application package, for example, your CD or MP3 is successfully uploaded or arrive at the copyright office, this is date where the copyright registration officially starts.
The best evidence you can claim ownership can be seen after two months where the copyright office starts publishing your records online. You can then search for it and look for the copyright registration number. This copyright registration number is your proof that the sound recording work is officially registered. 3 to 4 months after that, the copyright certificate will then arrive in your office/home.
Your second question: “And what form of protection or certificate would be accepted by iTunes or it’s partners”
Answer: You can either provide the copyright registration number if the copyright certificate is on its way. Or print the online catalog results of your work from US copyright website. I am not sure what iTunes or its partners require presently to their publishers, you can contact them for details.
You can submit your work online for copyright protection here and you can search if your work appears online after one to two months using this tool, click “search the catalog”- type your surname in “search for” and then “search by keyword”. Click “Begin search” for the results.
Content last updated on July 29, 2012