Some Essential Copyright Information

1999-09-07 04:00 am

This message is posted as a reply to another query on down the list, but I felt that this information is important enough to merit a new discussion.

Who owns the right to an arrangement? Any arrangement (called "derivative work"), as well as public performance (except for few exceptions, such as performance during worship services) rests with the copyright holder. You must have permission or pay royalty for the right to reproduce the work by any means. Be careful here, for as little as one measure of a copyrighted work has been protected by U.S. courts for infringement. The "Happy Birthday To You" song is a good example of a song that has been aggressively protected (can you believe it?) by the copyright owner.

Concerning copyright protection: you must register a work with the U.S. copyright office if you want to pursue litigation in the U.S. court system; however, "common law" copyright is still accepted for establishing the date of creation. Unfortunately, the time of copyright ownership for any piece of work begins at creation, not upon filing it with the copyright office. However, if you are simply wanting to register your work and there is no fear of infringement in the works, then who needs to know?

Finally, there are several replies concerning international differences in copyright law. This no longer applies based on an international copyright law treaty that has been accepted this decade by most industrialized nations. If you register your work with your copyright office, then that copyright is internationally recognized. One drawback of the international copyright treaty that caused the U.S. to balk for a while, is that the copyrighted work does not need to be clearly marked (or marked at all) for an owner to pursue infringement litigation. A copyright infringer is defenseless in this case (guilty until proven innocent).

Notice that Hal Leonard publishing has recently been pursuing litigation against MIDI sites where the system administrators have unknowingly posted uploads of copyrighted MIDI files, even when the copyright information has been removed from the file itself. Be carful!