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Permalink Reply by Alex Morris on August 16, 2010 at 1:05am

If you're in the U.S., the only official way to obtain a copyright for a song is to register it with the U.S. Copyright office.
All the particulars are at

http://www.copyright.gov

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Permalink Reply by Kellyann on August 16, 2010 at 7:17am

Sorry, Alex, forgot to say I'm in UK :)

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Permalink Reply by Alex Morris on August 16, 2010 at 7:36pm

In the U.K. there is no official government registry of copyrights as there is in the U.S., so it's up to the songwriter to furnish proof of when you wrote the song.

Some people do that by mailing themselves a copy of the song in a sealed envelope (with the postmark constituting proof of when the letter was mailed), or you can have a copy of the song notarized (which always includes the date on which the notary sealed the document).

Information on patents and copyrights for U.K. citizens is on the web site of the U.K.'s Intellectual Property Office:
http://www.ipo.gov.uk

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Permalink Reply by ToryCreek on February 25, 2011 at 7:08pm

Alex, thanks for posting this info. We just went through the process in the US but I had no idea of the info. you just shared. All the best Kellyann.

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Permalink Reply by Randy McCormick on March 1, 2011 at 1:09am

check out ASCAP

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Permalink Reply by Matt Allison on March 1, 2011 at 5:44pm

In the UK the PRS can deal with copyright. I think they charge though, but it's legally secure and they can dish out roylties if anyone uses your songs:

 

http://www.prsformusic.com/Pages/default.aspx

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