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[seamus76]

I have a friend putting out his own album, he is including a song I wrote called Full Circle Again(Noah's Song).  He's offered me $.50 for every CD he sells, to put it on there.  That sounds like a good deal to me.   What I'm wondering is how do I protect the song and keep it mine.  If others picked up the song or even if I was able to put out my own album in the future how do I keep in under my name as the creator.

I know some of you guys have knowledge about this stuff, and I'd love to hear it.  And of course any direction torward good places on the intenet to read up on it would be appreciated too.

[Scottydanger]

You will want to register it with the us government (will cost 30 bucks or so, you can do multiple songs at a time though) and/or register with a performing rights society like ASCAP or BMI. A little bit of google work based on what I just said should get you there, but if you have more questions pm me and I'll get back to you. I have a music industry degree and work at one of the three largest publishers in the world (which is where I am right now, taking a dump). I'd be glad to give more detailed advice when I have more free time!

[Opie Must Die!]

You can always do a poor mans copyright. Mail a copy of the track to yourself and don't open it. The timestamp on the package would be your proof that you had it first

[alliwantis40s]

Would the real poor man's copyright work of emailing yourself the track or posting it privately to a hosting site like bandcamp or youtube or something?  I've always thought about mailing it to myself since I work as a photographer and there is tons of problems with people using other peoples images without permission.

[Scottydanger]

Poor man's copyright is a myth and will not hold up in court. You technically own the copyright as soon as you record something, but registering it with the government gives extra protection. The poor mans approach is pointless and non-binding. There are a few obvious ways to fake it too, you could mail yourself an envelope sealed with scotch tape, open it afterwards and put in your own handwritten and post-dated version of wizard burial ground and then lick the envelope shut. That's why it doesn't hold up in court.