Just as you own a house, or a car, you can own your song.  Copyright is a form of federal protection of original works of authorship that gives copyright owners exclusive rights to their creations.  For a musician, this means that your songs, music, and recordings are protected under copyright law, making it illegal for anyone to reproduce or distribute your work without your permission under most circumstances.

How do you secure a copyright?  Surprisingly, copyright registration is not necessary to secure copyright protection.  As soon as you “create” your work, your work is protected.  You create your work when you reduce your song for the first time to a CD, sheet music, videotape, or any other “phonorecord” or “copy” that materially represents your creation.

Nevertheless, it is to your advantage to register a copyright with the U.S. Copyright Office.  When you register your songs, you are creating a public record of a copyright claim.  In the event that you believe someone has violated your copyright, the public record is the basis for bringing an infringement suit in federal court.  If you register a copyright within five years of your work being published, your copyright is presumed valid in court against other claims unless proven otherwise.  Also, if you register your work within three months of the work being published, or prior to the work being infringed upon, statutory damages and attorney’s fees are available to you if you prevail in an infringement lawsuit.  In short, registering a copyright greatly increases your chances of winning an infringement suit and receiving the maximum award recoverable.

More than just affording legal protection, copyright is also a key to your financial success.  Most successful musicians transfer and/or license the copyrights of their music so as to maximize profitability.  In a typical record deal, for example,an artist transfers to the record label the exclusive rights to reproduce and distribute its music in exchange for a share of the profit on album sales.  Beyond record deals, artists license their music through a broad range of media, including film scores, karaoke bars, Internet downloads / streaming, foreign sales, and video games, with each having a unique pay structure.

There is no more valuable asset to a musician than his song, so with the right representation, talent, and a bit of luck, your copyrighted music can pay dividends for years to come.