How to Copyright Your Music For Free

According to copyright law, you own the rights to your original music as soon as you create it. However, you must register your copyright with the US Copyright office if you intend to sue for infringement and registration costs $35-45 dollars. What if you just want to share your music without fear of someone ripping it off, but don't plan on ending up in court? Learn how to copyright your music for free.

Things You'll Need

• Internet Access
• Digital or Hard copy of your music

Instructions

1. Myfreecopyright.com offers a service where you upload a copy of your piece of music to their server, and are provided with a dated email that contains a digital fingerprint. This digital fingerprint can be used as proof that you are the registered owner of your piece of music. Myfreecopyright.com also gives you a logo that you can display to verify your registered copyright.

2. Another free way to copyright your work, is by getting a Creative Commons License. When you sign up for a Creative Commons License, you specify the conditions of use from all rights reserved to no rights reserved and a license is generated for you to use wherever you post your work.

3. Finally, a somewhat questionable method that artist's use to copyright their music is referred to as a "Poor Man's Copyright". Using this method you mail a hard copy of your music to yourself. When it arrives, you do not open the envelope, but instead keep it safely sealed to use as evidence of your date of possession by the postmark date on the envelope. This method is somewhat dubious because it can easily be faked, so use at your own risk.

Tips & Warnings

• Your rights to sue for copyright infringement are limited when you do not register your copyright with the US Copyright Office.

Resources

• How to Register with the US Copyright Office
• Creative Commons