Copyright and Licensing

          1)  According to "Copyright Law" a person(s) original work is automatically copyrighted to that person(s).  But,  to be legally copyrighted it must be submitted to the Library of Congress Copyright Office.  If it is a song or songs then it must be submitted in it's best work,  either as a single or a full CD and/or tape.  If it is written form,  such as a song book of originals,  then it must be submitted in duplicate,  no return,  for an ISBN# and copyright #.  We strongly recommend producing a song book with your original work.  Many people desire to play along with your CD / tape and a song book would greatly enhance marketability.

          2)  Licensing agents such as BMI and ASCAP require written permission to use another artist's song on your CD / tape or music (music parodies included).  The laws of the land on parody are ranging,  but stiff for those who do not have the necessary written permission.  The written permission can take up to 4 weeks to obtain and permission does not have to be granted. All mechanical royalties must be paid upfront to the original copyright holder (approximatly $0.0850 per song per CD / tape) with NO exceptions or risk being sued for copyright infrigement.  The current lawsuits have been ranging from $150,000 to $200,000 per song according to Ohio State University who has been tracking this for several years in their law department.  It is imperative to get written permission!

          For More Information please visit:
A.S.C.A.P. - American Society of Composers,  Authors and Publishers
B.M.I. - American performing rights organization
C.C.L.I. - Christian Copyright Licensing International
C.S. USA - Copyright Society of the USA 
Kohn Music - Copyright Law and Licensing Music for use and distribution over the World Wide Web.