Hey, it’s TJ Miller, you want some game? Let's Tip Unda The Hat!
This week it’s Thanksgiving Week so we are going to repeat one of the oldie but goodies, Copyright - Let’s go -
So after you’ve written and/or recorded your song, you will want to legally own it. Time to copyright ©? A copyright is the exclusive legal right to reproduce, publish, sell, or distribute one's own intellectual property (that’s actually anything you create, but we’ll stick to music), in other words - ownership. Ownership that gets you paid, and if anyone else gets paid off or your copyright you have the right to sue. The copyright belongs either exclusively to the one person that wrote the song, or to all members of the writing team, lyrics, music, beats, whatever. Note if it’s more than one person you all will need a document explaining the terms or your splits, something we will talk about later, just know that everyone that wrote it is a part owner.
Ok, let’s keep this simple, if you are in the U.S., to obtain a copyright you will need to fill out certain forms that you can obtain online from the copyright office through the Library of Congress. Now there are several types of copyrights, but we will discuss two. The PA (Performing Arts) form, and the SR (Sound Recording) form. The links I provided are for the paper forms but you can also apply online here.
The PA form protects the song, the music, the lyrics, beats etc, and is owned by the songwriter, or publisher. The SR form protects the sound recording (the track) of that song, and is usually owned by the label or an artist. Now since I’m talking primarily to DIY artists you will probably own both the song and the recording, so it’s best to just fill out the SR form. Now who ever owns the songs has to be the same person who owns the recordings to do the SR, and if you do, you can do multiple songs on one form; does that make sense? Yeah it gets complicated so feel free to hit me with any questions. Just remember copyright = ownership, and in this game you want to own your ship! Remember to give thanks for all you are and all you have. And also remember this ain't about no Pilgrims - it's about being thankful.
This week's #IAOTW - Independent Artists Of The Week is the same one from that week - Pianist Eric Willis.
For more information or to hire Unda The Hat as your brand or label consultant send a message via undathehat.com. See you next Tuesday.