Copyright Law.

[KrazyKatz]

Considering the incident that happened with that bozo Timbaland outright stealing other peoples intellectual property, I'm wondering if anyone here knows how the laws on copyright work, in order to prevent further such incidents.

[LPChip]

It is not allowed at all.

However, if someone still does it, You'll have to be able to prove that you made it and not copied it from the other person.

To do that, you'll have to "seal" your recording with a date before you release it.

You can do this in several ways. You can burn your song to a CD (along with source is recommended) and put it in a sealed envelope and email it to you with a track and trace number. This way, it will be registered at the post office, and that will be a way for you to prove that you had mailed it to yourself at that date. You are not allowed however to open that envelope until the case comes.

Another way is to visit someone that enforces the law (don't know the name in english: dutch = notaris?). I'm not entirelly sure how this process works, but there are several ways it could be: 1. He keeps the CD and labels it with a date or 2. He creates a legal document that states that you've made this song with this title on this date with his signature on it.

I might do some research on that sometime.

[Sam_Zen]

Nice examples of methods. (notaris = notary) The same can be done with other works by the way, like texts or designs.

I think in most countries it is against the law to call yourself the author of some work, while you're not. BTW, it is not necessary to become a member of some national organization, to be protected by this law. These orgs are handling money of royalties, which is a different story.

The possibilities to be able to prove, that you are the original author, have grown with the digital circumstances, I guess.
More technical possibilities.
Burning a song on a audio-CD is allright, but it still is a copy of the original WAV file on the HD. So make sure to keep that original, or burn it on a data-CD for your own archive.
There are more steps in the copying process, and maybe some of them are, or can be made irreversable.
Because the actual byte-content of a file could be an important evidence.
Obvious example : You can convert a WAV to a MP3, but it is impossible to convert the MP3 back to exactly the same WAV.
A simple file comparison on byte-level (not on sound-level) would prove what's the original.

Module tracking is a new element in this. Because it is not just a multitrack audio mix, but a file with instrument data plus the actual score of the composition described with codes in patterns. Plus all kinds of saved settings and comment.
So lots of things can be copied. Codes can be wiped or added. Instruments could be replaced or made sound different.

If it's about proving the date, internet-options are available too. Registering things in databases. In fact, a forum also functions as a database, so all threads with their links in the Download section here have a certain value in the date-field. This date may be different from the making-date of the original material, but at least it's a legally valid date.

As LPChip, I will do further research on this, also technically.

[LPChip]

Actually, I believe internet related dates are not good options, as you could get a case where they can say: but that date has been tampered with. A date on the internet or computer for that matter is electronical which means that its very easy to change that date.

[PPH]

The post office thing doesn't work well in a court of law. The best you can do is register your work in the corresponding agency in your country. In the USA, that is the Library of Congress. In Uruguay, it's the National Public Library.

[Sam_Zen]

2 LPChip
I was aware of that. But I supposed an independent database is much more difficult to pamper with, because it keeps logs which are not accessible to the users.

And the dates on a correctly closed CD can't be changed anymore, so it has become hardware.
PPH brought me on another option, at least in my country. The national tax office has a department "registrations" where one can deposit some creation (at least on paper afaik) to get some official timestamp. One has to pay a few bucks per A4-page.