smoe.org mailing lists
ivan@stellysee.de
| From | "Michael Bennett" <mrhonorama@hotmail.com> |
| Subject | Re: Copyright |
| Date | Mon, 08 Sep 2003 14:39:06 -0500 |
[Part 1 text/plain (4.4 kilobytes)]
(View Text in a separate window)
There's a reason that you want to have the "imprimatur of a federal agency"
(BTW John, you get 100 bonus vocabulary points for that one!) -- when the
U.S. changed its copyright laws to conform with most international
standards, it created a two-tiered system. So, any work that you have fixed
(in writing/tape/whatever) is automatically copyrighted. However, the only
legal protection you have is the ability to enjoin someone from infringing
your copyright. So, if Arthur records his latest composition, and thus, it
is copyrighted, and it then turns up on the soundtrack of GIGLI 2 (starring
Scott Baio and Erin Moran), as performed by David Hasselhoff, all Arthur
could do would be sue for an injunction to prevent release of the movie. At
one level, it's a big remedy.
However, this is America, and money is what it's all about. That is why
registration with the Copyright Office is important. In addition to the
benefit of having an exact copyright date, registering your copyright work
entitles you to not only sue for equitable relief (a/k/a the injunction),
but also for legal damages (i.e., $$$). So, retooling the example, if
Arthur fails to register his song with the Copyright Office and the obscure
indie band Methadonuts records it, and by a quirk of fate, the album takes
off and sells a million copies, Arthur can only sue to have it taken off the
record. However, if he registers the song, he can sue for the statutory
royalty rate to which he is entitled. (NOTE: The former scenario occurred
with an associate of mine, and I was able to work out a licensing agreement
with the record company, who could have been jerks about it, and get him
some cash, when legally, by failing to register, he wasn't entitled to
jack).
OK -- oddly enough, I ran into my old intellectual property professor today,
so what a better time to add my 2 cents.
Mike Bennett
Record reviews and more at http://fufkin.com
>From: "John L. Micek" <jlmicek@mindspring.com>
>Reply-To: audities@smoe.org
>To: <audities@smoe.org>
>Subject: Re: Copyright
>Date: Mon, 8 Sep 2003 14:18:31 -0400
>
>Great discussion, this one.
>For what it's worth, you can also copyright songs en masse by sending the
>Library of Congress' copyright office a cassette with all your songs on it,
>labelling it, "Collected Works," and then enumerating each song on the
>copyright application.
>
>That way you can avoid the $30 x 8 or $30 x 10 on an LP that it might cost
>to copyright each song individually, and still retain rights to each tune.
>
>While the "sending a letter to yourself" method is probably just as
>effective, I prefer having the imprimatur of a federal agency to justify my
>claim to copyright on my songs.
>
>John Micek.
>
>
>___________________________
>John L. Micek
>State Government Reporter
>The Morning Call
>Harrisburg, Pa.
>----- Original Message -----
>From: <ArthurBang2@aol.com>
>To: <audities@smoe.org>
>Sent: Monday, September 08, 2003 2:04 PM
>Subject: Re: Copyright
>
>
> > In a message dated 9/8/2003 10:53:46 AM Pacific Daylight Time,
> > JIMMYPRELL@aol.com writes:
> > It's about having the earliest dated sample of the song. The band that
> > actually creates the song would have earlier proof, if they bothered to
>take similar
> > precautions. But more to the point, if it's YOUR SONG, then nobody is
>going
> > to have an earlier date, so you'd be protected.
> > Thanks for the info everybody.. Obviously I've heard about the "put the
> > CD in an envelope and mail it to yourself" version for years.
>Everything
> > on the internet says that every song you write should be registered with
> > the Library Of Congress, to be SAFE. It costs something like $30 per
>song
> > and they say that's what most people do. At least most people on
> > Google it seems :) ..
> >
> > The only thing I'd be worried about is hearing something I'd written
>turn
> > up in a movie or on TV and then trying to convince everyone that I was
>the
> > one who wrote it.
> >
> > Arthur
> > =======================================================================
> > Detailed Audities-List information: <http://www.well.com/~reissue>
> > To manage your Audities List settings or unsubscribe:
> > <www.smoe.org/cgi-bin/mj_wwwusr?func=lists-long-full&extra=audities>
>
_________________________________________________________________
Get 10MB of e-mail storage! Sign up for Hotmail Extra Storage.
http://join.msn.com/?PAGE=features/es
For assistance, please contact
the smoe.org administrators.