Klarinet Archive - Posting 000737.txt from 1998/10

From: "Scott Morrow" <scottdmorrow@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] Attention composers...
Date: Fri, 16 Oct 1998 01:45:54 -0400

Actually, it IS as easy as putting a copyright notice at the bottom!
Under current copyright law (as I understand it - I am NOT a lawyer),
your work is technically copyrighted as soon as you put it down on
paper. You put the copyright notice on the work so people know who owns
the rights. In fact, failure to put a copyright notice on the work could
result in the work falling into the "public domain" (that is, NO ONE
owns the copyright and anyone can use it without specific permission).
You CAN also register the work with the Library of Congress (their
website has the information and, I think, downloadable forms. There is a
fee), but NOT doing that does not mean your work is not copyrighted. The
Library of Congress does not keep track of copyrights - it's more like a
depository. But registering the work does prove the work was at least
written before the date it was registered! (If there is a dispute
concerning the work, it will have to be registered with the Library of
Congress, but that can be done then.)
As for your worry about someone just putting their name on a copy of
your work and claiming it: someone could do that with a "professionally"
published work, too! (It usually doesn't happen) When it comes down to
it, this is the risk we take for making our work available to the
public!
(Another way of establishing the date by which the piece was written is
to mail a copy to yourself so it has an official government postmark.
Write the name of the piece on the outside so you know what's inside and
DON'T open it! Keep it on file in case it's needed in court. Again, I
don't know how valid this is legally!)

-Scott

>Gots a question for those of you who have music published currently -
>
>How do you go about copyrighting something? I plan on publishing
myself
>privately (that's what my printer is for, hmm?), and I mean, there's
gotta
>be more to it than just putting Copyright 1998 JM Nohe at the bottom -
>what's to stop someone from just taking my piece and renotating it with
>their name at the bottom and suing me?
>
>I'd rather not join one of those little copyright guilds - I don't
enough
>writing or arranging to do that. But I have done distribution (to
several
>members on the list, as a matter of fact). I trust them enough that
>they're not going to rip it off. But if I distribute elsewhere, how do
I
>know someone else won't? There's gotta be like, some official
copyright
>or something, but I've been told by some people that it's not
>necessary...still, I have too many doubts. What's the deal?
>
>J. Shouryu Nohe
>http://web.nmsu.edu/~jnohe
>Professor of SCSM102, New Mexico State Univ.
>--------------------------------------------------------------
>"Well, I can't help it. My nose for trouble has a penchant for
> getting my eyes into all the wrong places." - Kaji Ryoji
>
>
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