Protecting Your Creative Work
Before your music reaches any audience, it’s crucial to secure your rights and establish clear ownership. This process begins with copyright registration, which legally protects the original works of authorship.
Copyright Registration
Copyright safeguards your music, ensuring that your original compositions are protected under law. This is crucial not only for maintaining artistic control but also for securing the royalties and recognition that you rightfully deserve as a creator.
When to Register
As soon as you can! Any moment you have a completed product, you should register it. This may result in filing 2 copyrights for the song lyrics and the recording, at different times; which is perfectly acceptable.
If you've come this far, you should have some sort of copyright held, or started.
Where to Register
In the United States, register your works through the U.S. Copyright Office’s electronic filing system, which is more efficient and provides faster processing than paper forms.
What to Register
Register your music as a "sound recording" and "musical work" if you wrote the song. This covers both the composition and the recording itself.
How to Register
Visit the U.S. Copyright Office website, create an account, and complete the application for sound recordings. You will need to provide:
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The title of the sound recording and any previous or alternative titles.
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The date of completion and the date of first publication if already distributed.
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The names of the author(s) and claimant(s), along with their contributions (e.g., “Lyrics by”, “Performed by”).
A deposit, or copies of the work: For digital works, uploading files directly through the eCO (Electronic Copyright Office) system is required.
https://eservice.eco.loc.gov/
Benefits of Registration
Registration is essential for taking legal action against infringement. It also establishes a public record of your copyright ownership.
Purchase Codes
Track the performance of your assets in the industry accurately, and get the credit that you deserve; now and forever. Make your release official by enlisting your art to international recordation service to track your sale performance across mediums.
ISRC
(International Standard Recording Code)
Necessary for tracking individual tracks in digital commerce and broadcasting. These codes uniquely identify individual recordings to facilitate accurate royalty payments.
Obtain these codes through your distributor or directly from the US ISRC Agency.
https://usisrc.org/
https://isrc.ifpi.org/en/
UPC
(Universal Product Code)
Essential for albums or physical products, and are used to catalog and track albums in retail and digital marketplaces.
These can also be obtained through most distributors, or directly yourself.
https://www.gs1us.org/
https://upcs.com/
https://www.barcode-us.info/
Registering with Performance Rights Organizations
Collect your royalties through a PRO.
Performance Rights Organizations are instrumental for any music creator looking to earn royalties from their music when it’s played publicly, whether live, on radio, or streamed online.