[Hello From The Netherlands]

Publishing anywhere establishes copyright

Registering your copyright helps make your case for a claim of copyright easier to prove

The US Government runs a registry of copyrighted works. In the UK there is no such thing. Copyright hangs only on the act of publication and any support of copyright claim outside that is up to you. Different countries operate slightly differently. I would recommend registering your finished works with the US copyright service no matter where you live as explicitly copyrighting your work within the jurisdiction of the largest internet market is sensible.

No matter who the artist, once your songs are public domain anyone can copy them and release a song. That is true for U2, Lady Gaga, Pink Floyd, Lynyrd Skynyrd and whoever else. You. Me etc. Where copyright comes in is whether you have a provable claim that the work is yours, not theirs.

Where there are issues on forums on any site anyone stupid enough to be passing the work of others as their own are pretty quickly found out. In the 11 years of running Songstuff I have only known it to happen on two occasions... and one of those was claiming he wrote Mariah Carey tracks LOL in both cases the members in question were banned and all history of their posting was logged in case it would later be needed.

At some point your music / songs will need to be out there if you plan for them to be used, the bridges you have to cross for a forum are the same bridges you have to cross at that point.

Hope that helps

Heya,

That certainly helped alot, this is the first time I've come in contact with copyright. Thank you for the explanation, it's all clear to me now And it has rid me of alot of my fears.

Cheers,

Cappa

[Hello From The Netherlands]

Isn't that what you WANT? For them to turn into songs? The only issue to solve is how to make sure you get what it is you want from the deal right?

I guess if I were a professional musician I would be hesitant to post a work in progress, but for the rest of us who are just learning it seems like

you get more for posting than you risk.

Well,

I'm not completely sure what I want with my lyrics, I like writing them, but if I actually want them to turn into a song I'm not sure :/

But what I'm scared of is that someone comes on the forum, copies my lyrics, and then uses it for his own song saying the lyrics are HIS.

Now that I've read the Copyright FAQ, it seems to me I can actually copyright it by adding the copyright sign and the date I posted the lyrics to my message. But is this official copyright? I guess I'll just take the bet by placing my lyrics, if they do get stolen, at least the comments make me able to create better lyrics later.

Cheers,

Cappa

[Hello From The Netherlands]

Welcome to the site Cappa!

Tom

Thanks man

Cheers,

Cappa

Hi and welcome Cappa.

Hopefully this will answer your questions:

Hey,

It certainly did, thank you very much

Cheers,

Cappa

[Hello From The Netherlands]

Hey,

I'm new on this forum... I joined because I'm actually looking for some valuable feedback on the lyrics I write.

I'm not a musician, I just find writing lyrics fun. I actually only write small parts, and sometimes turn them into songs. I've got 3 songs by now, but alot of parts to start new songs with. I want to improve, but I need to know if there are any bad parts in my lyrics, so I know HOW to improve them.

Sadly, I'm a little scared of posting my lyrics here. What if someone copies it and uses it for it's own song?

Cheers,

Cappa