If you’re a songwriter and considering heading out into the material world, there are a few bits of legal garbage which you should definitely try to scope out, like copyrighting your number before you introduce it to the world so you get your due credit.

A copyright is a protection given by the law under U.S. Code Title 17, and is offered for the creative people. When your copyright is granted, you then have the right to print, reprint and copy the work; the right to panhandle or distribute copies of the work, the right to transform or revise the work and the right to perform and record it. But your rights are not total. Like for' musical compositions (called Class E by the government), the performance right is limited to public performances for profits, meaning that you can sing or play anyone else’s song to the public — if it’s not for profit.

The Class E Musical Compositions includes published and unpublished music in the form of “visible notatfon” (writing out the music), with or without words, but the words of a song, unaccompanied by music are not eligible to register in this class. However, also in this class are new versions of musical compositions such as adaptations, arrangements, and editing when it involves original authorship.

The first step in securing a copyright for your music is fairly simple. You just send away to the Registrar of Copyrights (c/o Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20559) and request Form

E. After you receive form E and complete and sign that form, you will then send a copy of the music and a check or money order payable to the Registrar of Copyrights (price depends on number of compositions). Also, make sure you keep a copy of the music as they don’t send your copy back. Also, don’t send hard cold cash, as they say, “currency is sent at the remitter’s risk” and we all know how corrupt some people are.

Now, what’s acceptable as a musical composition to the government people? The Office of Copyright insists that you send your music in some form of “visible notation.” If your tune has words, you should place the words directly below the notes to which they are sung. A thing called a “lead sheet,” which is the music’s melody in the standard notation written on the musical staff with all them sharps and flats and things is acceptable. The big Office in D.C. will not, from my last words with them accept tape recordings, phonograph records and other sound recordings. If you don’t know how to write music, but have recorded your song, you might try to find a friend to transcribe it for you, but beware of those little companies in the classified sections of funky papers as words have come down to me that they sometimes are in the habit of helping themselves more than you. Usually a music teacher at a local institution of higher (?) learning will take the time, if you will.

Catch 22 for the bargain-hunting people: a low registration cost. If you happen to have a ton of songs and musical compositions, you can register them as a collection and save a bundle. To register your musics as a fcollection only requires one application and one fee when following the rules listed below: the collection should be put together in a together, “orderly form;” it should bear a single title identifying the collection, such as “Songs I Play by Me;” all the musics must be,written by one person. The government prefers that you submit a separate application, copy and fee for each tune, but so would you if you could get more money for it!

Now, once your music is copyrighted, you can feel as safe as the U.S. dollar for at least 28 years. The date begins when the work is published with the notice of copyright, or, if your work is unpublished, the date begins when you register the tune in the copyright office. Then, 28 years later, if you’re still young enough to lick a stamp, you may renew your copyright for a second term of another 28 years. But this doesn’t happen automatically. You need to mail away again to the Registrar of Copyrights for a renewal form (Form R) and, again, there’s a slight fee (under $10.00), but you must do this during the last year of the original copyright period, which is calculated from the first date of registering.

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When you have copyrighted your song, you should always have the following three goodies on your music, whether it is being sent to a publisher or just laying it on a friend: (1.) always put the word “copyright,” the abbreviation “Copr.,” or, the symbol ©on this music. The symbol is always a little more impressive and is recommended as it may help in countries which are members of the Universal Copyright Convention: (2.) your name should be placed somewhere near the copyright; (3.) and the year of the copyright registration should also appear near the above two goodies. So, all in all, it should look something like this:

© Johnny Songwriter 1974

The rights to your music will be forfeited if this doesn’t appear on all copies, especially the published ones. And that’s harsh.

Well, that about does it. Just one last note: you should have a booklet very colorfully entitled Circular No. 50 which is a full run-down on copyrighting musical compositions and is 100% absolutely free to you upon request from the Copyright Office (just use the address given above). Until next time, KEEP THE BEAT!