First Art Records believes in preparing for success, and one thing is certain - if your music is successful, you will be glad you registered your songs and paid any required mechanical license fees to other composers. Doing this ahead of time insures that you are legal, and makes the transition to successful sales easy.

Any original compositions need to be registered with the U.S. Copyright Office for full protection. This guarantees a proof of ownership (beginning the date the application for copyright is received) which holds up without question in a court of law, unless plagerism or another form of theft is involved.

Copyright Considerations:

• Only content can be registered. That's Music and Words.
• Each composition should be registered individually. Collections are possible, but less desireable.
• Copyrights generally take six months to be processed. Seriously.

First Art Records has experience with individual copyright registration, and can assist you, or prepare the paperwork for you. It's definitely not something you want to redo - that can add another six months! Another aspect of protetction is the Sound Recording copyright (S.R.). This concerns the actual recording, and is covered below.   [ top ] [ next ]

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Protecting the actual sound of your recording requires a type of copyright known as a sound recording copyright, or SR. This protects the actual use of the music captured on your recording, even if the song is not yours. This means someone cannot use your recording as a part of their recording without notifying you or your representative, and without paying a fair-use mechanical license fee.

Sound Recording Copyright Considerations:

• Only one SR per album [recording] is required.
• The SR protects the actual sound, not the composition or arrangement.
• You are protected once your form is received by the U.S. Copyright Office [assuming everything is legal].

Sound Recording Copyright protection may not be required in every case. First Art Records can assess your individual situation, and, if an SR filing seems appropriate, can assist you in filing, or prepare the paperwork for you.

If the music you have recorded was composed by another artist, you must apply for a mechanical license, covered below.   [ top ] [ next ]

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United States copyright law provides what is called Fair Use of copyrighted materials. Put simply, it sets a fee for use that is compulsory, which means as long as you pay the proper fee, you are entitled to record the work and sell copies for profit.

First Art Records can guide you through the process of acquiring these mechanical licenses if you have recorded someone else's composition. The licenses are sold according to the amount of copies you intend to sell, with the minimum amount being 500 and the maximum amount being 2500. Even if you don't intend to sell 500 copies immediately, obtaining the license is well worth it. Most retailers and online sellers of your CD will require that the music be legal to sell, and mechanical license is one of the legal requirements. It is also only fair to pay the composer for the use of their material!

Other mechanical license considerations:

• Mechanical License covers physical copies - not digital license (online download).
• CDs must be manufactured in the United States.
• Lyric changes require written permission from the publisher.

N O T E :
This process will require either your valid credit card number and expiration date, or physical presence with a valid credit card.

If you are the composer of the music on your recording, you will want to be in a position to reap the benefits of other artists recording your music! You will also need someone to help collect royalties and payments for playing your music. This is the job of songwriter's organizations like B.M.I..   [ top ] [ next ]

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Once your original songs are registered and recorded, your CD is registered, and you have paid for any cover material, it's time to join a songwriter's organization. First Art Records composing members belong to B.M.I. [ Broadcast Music, Incorporated ], and can assist you in joining this organization.

Registering as a composer with B.M.I. is another preparation for success. If your recording becomes popular, you will receive royalty payments for inclusion in radio playlists and jukeboxes, television broadcasts, bars, websites, and many other monitored public use performances. In addition, if you have publishing rights to your composition, B.M.I. provides an opportunity to be compensated for public performance of your works. [ NOTE: Publishing rights are automatically yours unless you have reached a formal agreement with another publisher. ]

Quotes from B.M.I. literature:

• BMI serves its licensees by clearing the right to publicly perform approximately 4.5 million musical works in its repertoire.
• BMI provides songwriters and music publishers an opportunity to be compensated for the public performance of their works by licensing businesses that choose to play their music.
• Operating on a non-profit-making basis, BMI returns all revenues generated, less operating expenses, back to the creators of the music.
• BMI surveys include more than 450,000 hours of radio airplay, 6 million local TV program hours and 6.5 million network TV program hours.

[ All quotes are from: t.031558 NewBroch7.18.01 10pm by David F. Bills, BMI Licensing Brochure, 2001 PDF ]

Of course, there are other organizations dedicated to the same or similar enterprise, ASCAP, for example. These organizations represent the artists who belong to them, and take that representation to the people who make money from those artists. First Art Records recommends that any composer look into joining one of these organizations.

After all of that, you are finally ready to create your music! This is what you have been working for, and our experience is that you usually have a blast in the recording studio, especially when you are prepared! But, after the fun is over, what's next? Now it's time to your project together in a presentable form, in a way that represents you and what your music is about. This is a good time to think about graphics and graphic design, the visual part of your presence. [ next ]

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Contact First Art Records for more details and information here.

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COPYRIGHT AND REGISTRATION

Copyright

Sound Recording Copyright

Mechanical License

B M I