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The steps to copyright and own your song.....

  • warzone (nov 5-9) signup begins in...
T

taktical

Member
ill o.g.
Im wondering where I should start???? I know I need to become a member of ASCAP or BMI......which one do yall prefer....I know ASCAP cost $25 but Ive heard BMI dont charge at all...Should my whole group join or just the 1 who handels the business???....Then when I looked at their site they have 2 categories.....One for owning ya lyrics, and the other for owning the composition.....So Im wondering how I would go about copyrighting an ALL original work and how I would go about copyrighting just lyrics since I'm assuming I cant copyright a sampled beat.....But where do I start, where do I go to get the forms(websites), how much am I looking at spending??? Any cheap alternatives till I go the official way??......

PLEASE HELP WITH THIS ONE FAM....I feel that my group is at a point to take ourselves to the next step but we want to be legally ready before we hop in ya know......good lookin out to whoever helps and if yall wanna PM me ta get into more detail please do so.......1
 
Relic

Relic

Voice of Illmuzik Radio
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 83
bthis!
Start with the SR form that way you can just send in the whole cd, I spent alot of time staring at copyright sheets and no one will tell you line by line what you have to do ..
Basically if all of you did all the songs on the cd then you could just send the cd in along with the completedSRr form.
One thing you cannot do though is have some people on some songs and some on others, that will require different forms and thus more fees to the copyright office.
If your strapped for cash like most musicians then you will want to do as many songs as possible on one form/cd.
You can call them collection of songs by________ vol1 vol2 vol3 etc.
Its your choice with ascap or bmi , I chose bmi and wish I had ascap because I just dont understand the process of getting songs registered with them.Im prolly making it too hard though.
I just heard that ascap has better customer service.
 
Ash Holmz

Ash Holmz

The Bed-Stuy Fly Guy
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 207
bthis!
bthat!
call them. ... the number is right on the website ..ive spoken to them a few times they are helpful .. the whole ascap thing is actually pretty easy once u learn how it works. I would say register the whole group as well as each individual member seperately. that way if somebody does something outside of the group they can still register their work and collect royalities.
 
Relic

Relic

Voice of Illmuzik Radio
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 83
bthis!
Ash Holmz said:
call them. ... the number is right on the website ..ive spoken to them a few times they are helpful .. the whole ascap thing is actually pretty easy once u learn how it works. I would say register the whole group as well as each individual member seperately. that way if somebody does something outside of the group they can still register their work and collect royalities.
Click to expand...

So your with Ascap?
I knew I shouldnt have gone with BMI..
 
Chrono

Chrono

polyphonically beyond me
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 5
So after you copyright the cd then you register with ascap/bmi because ascap/bmi plays the role of the legal backup, right? i'm just starting understanding everything in sequence..
 
J

jawanza malik

ILLIEN
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 1
how do you get just beats copywritten, or (protected)
from other dudes dat mite try 2 jac ya beats and call it theirs??????
 
Ash Holmz

Ash Holmz

The Bed-Stuy Fly Guy
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 207
bthis!
bthat!
Chrono said:
So after you copyright the cd then you register with ascap/bmi because ascap/bmi plays the role of the legal backup, right? i'm just starting understanding everything in sequence..
Click to expand...

naw ascap had nothing to do with legal backup .. copywright and ascap/bmi are two totally diffrent things. Although one could argue that registering a song in ascap is a form of protection as well. but nothing beats the official copyright for protection.
 
Chrono

Chrono

polyphonically beyond me
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 5
Ash Holmz said:
naw ascap had nothing to do with legal backup .. copywright and ascap/bmi are two totally diffrent things. Although one could argue that registering a song in ascap is a form of protection as well. but nothing beats the official copyright for protection.
Click to expand...

If they are totally different than copyrighting then what are their (ascap's) main function?

I think I remember reading in the ascap paperwork that if someone rips something that I registered with ascap then they will represent me in court (possibly for a certain percentage of the legal fees or lawsuit). As a member of ascap, what are they going to do for me that registering my works through an SR form will not?

Thanks!
 
Ash Holmz

Ash Holmz

The Bed-Stuy Fly Guy
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 207
bthis!
bthat!
Chrono said:
If they are totally different than copyrighting then what are their (ascap's) main function?

I think I remember reading in the ascap paperwork that if someone rips something that I registered with ascap then they will represent me in court (possibly for a certain percentage of the legal fees or lawsuit). As a member of ascap, what are they going to do for me that registering my works through an SR form will not?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

ascap is the money/royalties .. they cut checks ..... a copyright wont cut u a check ... but a copyright proves that u are the legal owner of a body of work. U cant collect royalties on something that u dont own .. so copyright is eesential. register your work.

BROUSSARD BEATS said:
maybe someone need to scan in a sr sheet fill out to let him and others see how its done
Click to expand...

the shit is easy as hell ..... theres even info on how to do it right on the site u download it from ... if a cat cant figure it out they need to quit music and go back to school lol...
 
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