Avoid "Poor Mans" Copyright

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Part of the video series: How To Copyright a Song

Benefits of Copyrighting Music

How Music Royalties Are Divided

Performance Rights Organizations

Technology in Publishing Busines...

Summary: Unless your copyright documents are official, you may not have a case. Do Not "Poor Man" copyright! Go through the official channels to ensure that in this free music business and song publishing video.

Views: 722 | Tags: single, recording, publishing, publish, hit, rights, contracts, copyright, songwriter, credits, licensing

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About the Expert

Antonio Neal Antonio Neal has written more than 40 cuts for artists such as Stacie Orrico, Darlene McCoy, and Tyler Perry. He recently released his debut album, “Days of M... read more

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Video Transcript

Avoid "Poor Mans" Copyright

ANTONIO NEAL: Hey, this is Antonio Neal with Artistic Soul Entertainment on behalf of Expert Village. Today, we're going to talk about copyrighting a song and also publishing a song. Now, let's talk about a "poor man's copyright." All of us have heard before, "Hey, man. I got an idea. You got a song, mail it back to yourself." Can I do you a little favor? That's going to hold up less than two seconds in a court. The court, the government, a judge will not recognize that poor man's copyright. Why? Because just because you got something in your possession don't mean that you own it. Hey, just like a person who steals a car; just because the car is sitting out there in your driveway and just because you're driving down the street does not mean that that car is yours. And how can the government differentiate between you and the person who truly owns the car? You have to take--it's just $45, [SOUNDS LIKE] y'all. Come on, $45, register your song, and you'll never have to worry about that ever happening to you. Poor man's copyright, that's for the birds. Don't do it, don't do it, don't do it. If your work is that valuable, take out the time and invest in it. It'll be worth it in a long while.