Poor mans copyright

No I'm NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
don't cheap out invest in your production company

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Cam Edmonds said:
Will it actually even work in a court of law?
Click to expand...

In Auastralia or Canada it may well do, as you have other evidence (usually) of the originality and therefore the copyrightable aspects of the piece.

In the USoA, land of the legal flim-flam, the USoA Copyright Office does indeed trump all unless there is otherwise irrefutable proof of original authorship, generally in the same form as the former and current British Commonwealth countries would accept.

It is also important to note that if you establish copyright in a country other than the USoA, it may well trump any one elses assertions of original authorship with the Copyright Office, particulalry if your copyright is recognised prior to the attached lodgement date in the USoA.

These opinions are based on personal experience and may differ for your situation. I am not a lawyer; you should seek your own advice from a competent practicing attorney in the field of arts/entertainment copyright law.
 
Send yourself a registered letter with the thing to be copyrighted in it. Take receipt and then only open it if you need to fight in court.

Vsn 2 goes something like send your attorney a registered letter that is only to be opened upon instructions from you. Why anyone would trust a lawyer is beyond me.... ;)
 
It won't work at all in court. The only proof you'll have is you sending a sealed envelope to yourself. Spend the $35 and copyright your beats, music, etc. right. You can upload in sets to save money.
 
No. It means that you can save spending $35 a pop for each beat. You can't sell beats through the copyright office. You are only registering all your beats as a set. It's an affordable way of doing it.
 
I always thought a poormans copyright was emailing yourself the beat... I mean if u sent it so and so date and hit shows in your email account way before the dude recorded it.. It'll be there as proof...
 
SwagProductionz said:
I always thought a poormans copyright was emailing yourself the beat... I mean if u sent it so and so date and hit shows in your email account way before the dude recorded it.. It'll be there as proof...
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The Poorman's Copyright is sealing the beat into a envelope and mailing it to yourself without ever opening it. Not email. What happens if your computer crashes? Then you won't have it anymore. It's best to just spend the $35 and take them the copyright certificate if you ever end up in court. Find out more about the actual process here.
 
Problem with e-mails is that all the important data can be spoofed - i.e. made to be something than what it was originally. Even if you accept that the dates are correct, the audio file on it's own is not enough to prove authorship.

This is where having sketches and copies of the work in progress is valuable - they demonstrate a trail of development and in your possession are a much more potent form of evidence, but in the USA not having them registered may trump your work product trail....

I would again state that for the USA poor-mans copyright may not suffice, in other jurisdictions it is a well settled process to demonstrate original authorship.
 
Hey all,

Couple things to clear up here. So-called "poor man's copyright" doesn't really mean anything, at least in US. What's important is, whether it's your original composition. If it is, then under the law it is protected even if you don't register it with U.S. Copyright office. Registration provides more definitive "proof" (assuming you ever need it) as well as certain other rights.... but the law still protects original works without registration.

Let's say you want to publish your work to YouTube. I'd recommend you post that it's (c) whatever date, all rights reserved, and your contact info. That proves that you have the intent to protect your intellectual property as well as putting other people on notice that they can't just hack it for whatever use. If you want to spend $35 per composition, you can copyright it as well. Up to you to decide if that makes good business sense depending on where you're at right now in your music-selling business.

Good luck and great question!

~Baby B, Esq.
(not intended as legal advice)
 
Most of what you have written, my dear esq, holds in most countries that are a party to the Geneva Copyright Act of 1968 and subsequent amendments.

It is just that some countries have not yet gone down the path of charging to register a copyright. Indeed, it suffices to assert the moral right to be recognised as the author in any and all jurisdictions, as you have suggested - the act of placing "(c)XXXX Authors-name-here all rights reserved" is sufficient to hold up in any competent jurisdiction in which a claim of copyright infringement can be brought.

BC esq. (i.e. BA/BAppSci/GDipBus/GDipEd)
(this is also not legal advice as noted before, get your own lawyer or better still become one)
 
Baby B said:
Hey all,

Couple things to clear up here. So-called "poor man's copyright" doesn't really mean anything, at least in US. What's important is, whether it's your original composition. If it is, then under the law it is protected even if you don't register it with U.S. Copyright office. Registration provides more definitive "proof" (assuming you ever need it) as well as certain other rights.... but the law still protects original works without registration.

Let's say you want to publish your work to YouTube. I'd recommend you post that it's (c) whatever date, all rights reserved, and your contact info. That proves that you have the intent to protect your intellectual property as well as putting other people on notice that they can't just hack it for whatever use. If you want to spend $35 per composition, you can copyright it as well. Up to you to decide if that makes good business sense depending on where you're at right now in your music-selling business.

Good luck and great question!

~Baby B, Esq.
(not intended as legal advice)
Click to expand...
so if i make a youtube.. and all upload all my beats.. and put that (c) stuff copyright date etc... and keep my page private for ever but someone steals my beat thru email... i should be good in court? is that what your saying?
 
No, the mere act of claiming copyright in a public setting goes a long way towards establishing authorship and rights ownership: a youtube video in which you have titling that claims the copyright and also in the accompanying text is a good start. Paying money gets it on the independent public record....
 
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