Discussion:
What is the name of your state? Massachusetts
Greetings!
I am a songwriter and have recently been researching ways to protect my work. I visited the US Copyright website, which I found thoroughly confusing. I'm not sure which form to use. This is my first question.
Here's the next... My search for advice lead me to a songwriter's forum where I learned of another website called itsonlywords.com. This site is based in Australia. It is designed to provide the opportunity for songwriters to publish their works online and gain copyright protection under Australian Copyright Law and International Copyright Treaties. My question is, will registering with this site give me adequate protection under the International Copyright Laws, or will I still need to register with the US Copyright Office?
Looking forward to some good advice. Thanks in advance.
Peace
Psalmist
Answer:
Here's the next... My search for advice lead me to a songwriter's forum where I learned of another website called itsonlywords.com. This site is based in Australia. It is designed to provide the opportunity for songwriters to publish their works online and gain copyright protection under Australian Copyright Law and International Copyright Treaties. My question is, will registering with this site give me adequate protection under the International Copyright Laws, or will I still need to register with the US Copyright Office? Look up 17 USC 104(c) -- basically, U.S. copyright law gives the same protections to work registered (or not) in a foreign country as it does to an unregistered work in the U.S. In other words, registering in Australia is the same as not registering in the U.S. By registering in Australia, you may gain more rights in Australia, but that won't help you in a U.S. court. In order to be able to sue for statutory damages and the like, you need to have your copyright registered in the U.S. prior to infringement in the U.S.
I am a songwriter and have recently been researching ways to protect my work. I visited the US Copyright website, which I found thoroughly confusing. I'm not sure which form to use. This is my first question.
Use a form PA or short form PA -- there's a link on this page that will tell you which you should use.