How much does it cost?
Lifetime registration is only US$30 per song.
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How do I register my song?
Registration is quick and easy. It is as simple as sending an
email. When you click on the registration links on this website,
or click
here, you will be taken to the submissions page.
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Why register with SongCopyright.org? What are the
advantages?
SongCopyright.org is the world's leading independent music
copyright service and the first choice of thousands of
professional publishers, organizations, songwriters, composers
and lyricists. It has an impressive background with excellent
contacts within the music industry. It is administered by The
Song Copyright Organization and was formed in close consultation
with music industry bodies and experts including the Music Aid
Organization and the Music Aid Academy, the World Music
Foundation and The International Song Copyright Agency (ISCA).
Most importantly, if your work is involved in any legal case of
copyright ownership dispute, SongCopyright.org will provide a
secure and certified copy of your work directly to the lawyers
involved, anywhere in the world in accordance with our Terms and
Conditions. It is also very important to note that registration
at SongCopyright.org is for life. This means that, unlike most
other copyright services, there is no need to pay again for
renewal at a later date and you will never be asked for
additional fees.
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Who registers their work at SongCopyright.org?
Songwriters who benefit from copyright protection at
SongCopyright.org range from unknown beginners to Gold and
Platinum Album Award winners. We represent and protect writers
from most countries in the world including the USA and Canada,
the UK, Australia and New Zealand, all the European countries,
South America, and a growing number of Asian and African
countries.
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How can I show that my work is registered at
SongCopyright.org?
You should use the standard international copyright symbol © on
all your work also write "SongCopyright.org" or "The Song
Copyright Organization" or "SCO Registered" or something
similar. If your work is online we suggest that you link to
www.songcopyright.org
so that people can instantly check your registration for
themselves.
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I already have a five year copyright registration. How can
I extend this to a Lifetime Registration?
We no longer offer the old five year registration plan and every
five year registration has now been automatically extended to a
Lifetime Registration completely free of charge. If you had one
of the old five year plans there is no need to contact us as we
have already taken care of this for you. Your previous
registration is now officially a Lifetime Registration.
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What is Song Copyright exactly?
The international laws relating to song copyright state
that your songs are your creative work and your property. This
legal principle of ownership means that the writer controls and
owns all rights relating to the use and reproduction of the song
- including the right to sell or assign the copyright and
ownership to another individual or company. This is the law
under international legal agreements and it is the basic
principle of copyright that is accepted throughout the world.
Most countries have formalised the principles of copyright
outlined above by signing up to an international agreement known
as the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and
Artistic Works. It was first adopted in 1886 as an agreement to
honour the rights of all authors who are nationals of countries
that are party to the convention. The current version of the
convention is the Paris Act of 1971. The convention is
administered by the World Intellectual Property Organization
(WIPO). A search on the internet will show a number of sites
with up to date lists of the countries that have signed. This
international agreeement provides legal protection to the
authors of original works where these works have been presented
in a tangible, fixed and physical form of expression.This
agreement makes it very clear that as soon as your song, music
or lyrics are written down, or recorded as a sound recording,
they are automatically copyrighted and the writer(s) has/have
full legal ownership. This is a very important point. It is not
enough to compose a song in your head and keep it in your memory
- it must also exist in a physical and tangible form, a form
that others can see or hear, for the copyright rules to apply.
So under the Berne Convention you officially and legally own the
copyright in your work as soon as you express it in a tangible
and verifiable form. This protection applies to both published
and unpublished works.
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Are song titles copyright protected?
No. Song titles are not protected under copyright law. Anyone
and everyone is free to write and publish a song with the title
"Yesterday" or "Imagine" or "My Way" for example. There are many
thousands of different songs that share exactly the same titles.
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Why should I register my song if I own the copyright
anyway?
Under the Berne Convention there is no legal requirement to
register your work with any official body as your ownership is
automatic. But if you don't register this may cause problems if
someone copies your song and tries to pass it off as their own.
Unfortunately this can happen to any composer or songwriter at
any time and the risks today, with widespread access to music on
the internet and mobile devices, are greater than ever before.
If this happens to you it will be necessary to prove that you
wrote the work in question and this may be difficult if the song
was not registered. If someone hears your song on the internet
or reads the lyrics on a website, or your neighbour overhears you
composing it in your home, or your band plays it at gig, or you
enter it in a competition, someone could easily decide to copy
it and pass it off as their own composition. Copyright theft
happens every day and copyright registration may provide the
insurance that you need to help you protect your valuable
creative work and enforce your legal rights.
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Do you offer any other services?
Yes. We offer a number of specialist services that are only
available to music industry bodies and organizations. But these
services are not available to the general public. The lifetime
song registration service is the only service that is currently
available to individual songwriters and the public.
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I have a question that is not answered above. Can I
contact you about this?
Yes. You can email us at
2009@songcopyright.org
if you have any further questions about our services that are
not answered above, and we will be pleased to deal with your
query. You should also read the
Terms
and Conditions before making your application for
registration and you may find your question answered there.