- Although your lyrics are protected by copyright immediately upon creation, registering the creation date gives you official proof should you ever need to pursue a copyright infringement suit. Registration is not necessary if you are not displaying your lyrics for the public. Registering them is a good idea and there are ways of doing this at no cost. However, there is no substitute for the United States Copyright Office. It is your work you are protecting. The fee to register your lyrics with the U.S. Copyright Office is minimal. You also have the option of registering as many lyrics as you want as a group, under a single title, for the same fee.
- Mail your lyrics to yourself. This is a very old, simple method that costs no more than a stamp. If you borrow a stamp and envelope, your cost will be nothing. The United States Post Office seal, with its official date, serves as the official copyright date. Don't open the letter when you receive it. Should you ever need to prove you are the owner of the copyright, take this letter to court and open it in front of the judge. It is a primitive method, but it does count as official third-party verification.
- Use a third-party storage service for free copyright registration. MyFreeCopyright is a service for just this purpose. Simply apply for an account, upload your lyrics to an online storage database, and the service will email you a document stating the exact lyric titles you uploaded, along with the date and time of uploads. This method provides official, verifiable third-party registration at no cost.
