john

My guess is you will need to continue to gather evidence, regularly google check for listings etc. The guy has admitted everything so there is no innocent usage. I would expect that an Entertainments lawyer would issue a cease and desist notice to him. I would also follow up with kompoz and get their explanation, ie the reason they gave him I would also maybe make sure they understand he was asked not to use it (same goes for the other music collaboration site) but that he refused citing public domain and his intention to pitch the song. I would also ask if they know of him doing this to other people. If they answer yes that is good to know, if they answer know it is a way to put the idea in their heads without you making a statement to that effect. Actually, maybe hang fire on that. Just take notes and issue take down notices and rely on your PRO and an Ents lawyer. Sometimes you can get free legal help if you are a member of a union or songwriting association.

Thanks James. Sorry my head has all been testing and debugging our server without much success. Very frustrating! If Donna has expressly indicated that it is public domain that could spell problems, though I know not all jurisdictions accept such... My understanding is that the author can give permission for the world to use it, but that doesn't mean they relinquish their rights as the copyright owner including the revoking of such privileges. If it is a Kompoz agreement an ents lawyer would need to look at it.

Oh additionally, please PM me the details of this person. If they are a member here I will ban them. I suggest you contact Kompoz website owner and notify them of what is happening. I would be surprised if they want them as a member either. Or any other music website owner including any OMD like Soundcloud or Reverbnation.

Hi Donna I am not a lawyer but your PRO should be able to give you something more definitive. Meanwhile I'll refer to a few sources. http://www.teachingcopyright.org/handout/public-domain-faq Publicly available and public domain are not the same thing. My understanding is that to be considered public domain either copyright must have expired or it is an item where copyright does not apply, such as a title, or a short phrase, a concept or idea etc. Free doesn't enter into it. Where free can have bearing is where a work can be considered published or not published. Public display does not constitute a waiver or transfer of ownership rights. Ownership of a copy does not constitute a transfer of ownership rights. What you do gets are rights regarding the copy, not the original work, even then those rights do not extend to alteration of the work of the creation of derivative works by any means. "Two General Principles • Mere ownership of a book, manuscript, painting, or any other copy or phonorecord does not give the possessor the copyright. The law provides that transfer of ownership of any material object that embodies a protected work does not of itself convey any rights in the copyright." http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ01.pdf Either your work is considered published or it isn't, but either way copyright ownership is established on creation of a work, independent of whether it is registered or not. For your work to be used as described you would need to actively give permission to the entire world to be able to use it in that way, and even then you would retain moral rights. Not all countries would even allow that. If what this guy asserted was true nothing that was free (99% of the internet) would be protected by copyright, that means none of what any publicly viewable website offers would be covered including newspapers, books, nothing at all. From the Us gov doc above you will find "Notice of Copyright The use of a copyright notice is no longer required under U.S. law, although it is often beneficial." That I understand mainly has bearing on "innocent infringement" which this man's communication already proves it is not, it is merely ill-informed. "Who Can Claim Copyright? Copyright protection subsists from the time the work is cre­ated in fixed form. The copyright in the work of authorship immediately becomes the property of the author who cre­ ated the work. Only the author or those deriving their rights through the author can rightfully claim copyright." Out of interest, by removing your copyright notice, by altering it, I understand he is committing a crime (page 163) http://www.copyright.gov/title17/circ92.pdf

A bit of a mix, but mainly my mum. She was a soprano with the BBC and the Scottish National Orchestra, and she taught piano to bring in some extra money. My older sisters played, so did my grandfather. So I started learning from age 4. I guess even before that I used to sing with my sisters while either one of them or my mum played piano. On a reasonably regular basis I and my sisters would have to perform for and with my mum and her music friends at parties. They were all singers of one kind or another and many played other instruments. I started learning the violin age 6 or 7 after watching Yehudi Menuhin play on TV. That started me on learning another instrument (which became a bug) and a life long passion of how instruments work together, then arranging music and then writing songs. I was creative in other ways too, from writing poetry to drawing and painting. I was very lucky to come from a family that encouraged art and music.