Getting music copyrighted

[Toast]

I was wondering what a recommended method would be to copyright my music in the future. I was planning on making an album sometime in the future. Thx!

[Saga Musix]

You do not need to get your music copyrighted - you already own the copyright the moment you create the music thanks to the Berne Convention. So I'm not exactly sure what you actually want to know - are you looking for means of monetizing your work (Bandcamp is nice), signing a label or something else? Are you looking for choosing a suitable license for your music? For free music I'd recommend looking into Creative Commons for choosing a suitable license. Owning the copyright doesn't automatically tell people what they are allowed to do with your music and not, and Creative Commons is an easy way to tell this to them in both easy to undertand words, but also providing a legally binding license.

[LPChip]

Saga Musix is right, but there is one thing you should keep in mind, which is probably the actual question you're asking.

Although making a work of art automatically makes you the copyright holder, if someone violates your copyright, you will have to have proof that you really made the art. If the other can somehow proof they made your piece of art prior to you being able to proof it, you will not have any ground to stand on and they basically legally steal your work.

There are places to register your music for a small fee which is a way. Each country has such organisation and they will claim royalties if your music is played. Another way is to make sure you can timestamp your source material. Having it on your computer is not going to do it though, as that data can be forged. If you burn your source material to a cd or dvd, place it in a protective case, seal it in an envelope and post it to yourself you can then keep this sealed in case you need to proof  that you own the source. Note once you open the envelope, you will void that piece of proof.

[Saga Musix]

Don't get into copyright societies unless you are really, really sure that you know what you are doing, though. It's almost impossible to get out of them depending on the country you live in, and some of them have really stupid regulations regarding the copyright of your work: For example if you join the German GEMA, they automatically own all your past and present music, i.e. you can no longer release free music, and you are technically not allowed to release a single CC-licensed tune once you signed a contract with them. And in the end you won't even get much money out of it unless you are somewhat famous. It's less strict in other countries, where you can register individual tunes with those copyright socities, but it's still a hassle that's not worth it most of the time. In the end, you should only do this if you expect your music to be played on radio / TV stations or the like - not if you just want to sell your music on the internet through Bandcamp, Beatport or similar sites.

[LPChip]

Good addition Saga Musix, I totally agree.