Registering Copyrights for Musicians

Copyright is a form of intellectual property law granting exclusive rights to creators of intangible assets. Under the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, which the US signed in 1989, copyright is granted the moment the intellectual property becomes fixed in a tangible form. In other words, the moment your write down or record a new song, you are automatically granted a copyright. Unfortunately, that copyright does not have much viability under a court of law, and you should consider officially registering your copyright with your government.

Officially registering your music is a voluntary, but important step if you plan on commercially exploiting your recordings or songs. It will legally protect your intellectual property should somebody else blatantly copy it, or if somebody claims you have copied their work. While copyright infringement doesn’t happen often, every year there are always a few stories of a relatively unknown artist making a claim against a major pop act. To make a claim, or defend against one, the most important piece of evidence is the date the composers created and published their works. The best way to prove that in a court of law is with a properly registered copyright.

If you are a resident of the United States, you can easily register your works with the Library of Congress online at the United States Copyright Office. At the writing of this article, the registration service costs $35. To save money, you can register many works at once, as a single collection.