copyright
I see a lot of non professional guitar players who have video's on YouTube, Facebook etc.
I always wonder what will happen if one of those video's turn into a popular tune.
Can you claim total ownership just because you uploaded it first on the internet somewhere?
I always wonder what will happen if one of those video's turn into a popular tune.
Can you claim total ownership just because you uploaded it first on the internet somewhere?
Comments
I'm not a lawyer, so take all of this as "just some stuff I read on the internet". I'm mostly replying, because, hey, someone should take a crack at this…
These days, when you write a song, you have the immediate copyright for it, regardless of filling out any paperwork. (I say "these days" because I think it changed around 20 years ago. (And I acknowledge this change, because maybe you taped a song on VHS in 1985 and now you're going to post that on youtube, and it's going to be a massive hit as a lost track from the 80s! (There you are in all your glory with a Charvel Jackson, tons of distortion and chorus effect, hairspray everywhere!!!))).
Anyway...
The registration is a useful step because it formally establishes a time when the work was created.
So if you upload a song to youtube that you wrote, and it goes viral, and some popstar steals it, it would be helpful to show proof that you registered it with the US Copyright Office. Without that, it may be difficult to show proof.
But I don't think the act of uploading it to youtube or anywhere else doesn't forfeit your intellectual property rights in and of itself. (That's what the fine print in the Terms and Conditions is for!)
But, as you can see, I'm not a lawyer. This is just my impression from looking around the internet. See http://www.wikihow.com/Copyright-a-Song for steps on registration.