Online Copyright Guide - Phosphene Productions

Phosphene Productions: Online Copyright Crash Course.

1. Right off the bat I'd like to start by saying You can register as many songs as you want to at one time. So it might be a good idea to wait until you have a few songs piled up (that way you can squeeze as much as possible out of that $35 copyright fee!)
   
2. To start off It’s usually a good idea to create separate word documents with lyrics, chords if possible, and date of writing for each song.
3. After your lyrics are written down the next thing you need to do is create audio recordings of each piece either with music or sung a-Capella. Doing so will assures that both the melody and music of the song are included under the copyright along with the lyrics.
4. Next up its time to submit your copy-write claim, head on over to the U.S. Copyright Electronic Copyright office (https://eco.copyright.gov/eService_enu/start.swe?SWECmd=Start&SWEHo=eco.copyright.gov)
5. When you log in, select "Register a New Claim." Click "Start a Registration." Select "Work of the Performing Arts" and click "Next."
6. On the next page, select "New" and then select "Title of work being registered" next to "Title Type." Type the title of your first song and click "Save." Click "New" again and continue this process until you have entered all the titles of the songs you are registering for copyright.
7. After paying the $35 registration fee, Allow several months for your request to be processed. The current processing time for an online registration is three months after which you receive a document in the mail certifying that your song or songs are registered with the Library of Congress, and you will be able to look up the records at the U.S. Copyright Office website.
   
   Before copy writing your work I highly recommend scrolling through the eCO tutorial pdf here: http://www.copyright.gov/eco/eco-tutorial.pdf