knudsen (11/25/82)
I know about copyrights, having gotted some for the piano rags I've been giving away over this newsgroup. You write to Library of Congress and request some forms -- state what for (song lyrics, novel, music, etc). Very easy to fill out, at least for individuals. You must figure out which category your creation fits into. The "nominal" fee is $10.00 -- however, you can save by calling your goodies a "collection" and covering the whole thing for one ten-spot. You do have to submit a copy (Xerox) of your stuff (or a tape, record, etc -- more below), so you'd better format all of it into a collection-object before filing as such. What you get back is a xerox of your form, with a seal impressed into it, and the serial number assigned to you by the L of C. Some of you will like this--you needn't write out music, chords, or even words (ideal for rockers?), as long as you can spell the title and supply a sound recording. Literacy aside, this can save a lot of time for folksingers, to say nothing of electronic & computer synthesis creators who may have no humanly readable & reproducible way of notating their productions. Note that this is still copyrighting the MUSIC/LYRICS, not just the recording -- though you can protect those, too. PS -- I'm glad to hear that if someone rips off your unregistered piece, you can still register it at L of C and then go after the SOB. It might be hell of a court battle to prove that your original date is authentic, though -- so register and be SURE. "Frances, an Artistic Rag" is alive & well on microfilm, somewhere beneath the subbasement of the L of Congress -- hey, No Nukes, please! mike k