Was getting fed up with dial-up....
So, I would like to discuss ways to protect one's musical creations. Copyright technically exists the second you create something, but obviously you'll need proof if a situation arises where someone steals your material.
1. Poor Man's Copyright (mail your works to yourself using registered mail. Clearly label the contents and only enclose one CD per collection of works. This is recognized by the courts as legit copyright in Canada and the USA and is significantly cheaper than using official copyright methods).
2. Socan (Canadian musical society for dispersing royalties to members within a band. Helpful for working out song writing credits within groups/bands).
This is an interesting aspect of the music scene and there's real-life stories such as Sarah McLaughlin's trial that demonstrate the complexity of song writing credits/copyright.
By the way, song-writing is different than 'arrangement'. Often times, people will think they wrote something because they put a bass line or a particular drum beat into a song...but that is 'arrangement'. Song-writing consists of lyrics and melody. Arrangement, on the other hand, is simply how a song is performed. You can take a Beatle's song, for example, and do a rock version, or a country version, or a reggae version...that is essentially what arrangements are. So things that may seem integral to a song are not necessarily considered writing-credits. David Bowie's 'Man Who Sold The World', for example, has that famous ascending bass line in the chorus section. The performer, however, did not get any credit for writing that part, however, because it is considered arrangement. Get it? :confused:
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