Even though copyright protection automatically applies to your song as soon as it’s in tangible form (written or recorded), it’s still a good idea to register your copyright with the U.S. Copyright Office. This gives you a public record of your copyright claim and can make it easier to enforce your rights if you run into disputes.
Here are two practical reasons to copyright your music:
- Legal protection: copyrighting your music gives you legal protection against others using your work without your permission. This means that if someone tries to use your music without paying you or giving you credit, you can take legal action (or threaten to take action) to stop them and potentially seek damages.
- Evidence of ownership, credit/recognition: having a registered copyright provides evidence of your ownership of the song(s). This can be important in the event of any disputes over ownership or originality of your music. Or just to prove that you wrote that one Grammy-winning track.
Basically, copyrighting your music is an important step if you want to avoid any potential legal issues.
How much does it cost to copyright a song?
You can register up to 20 songs at once for $85 with the United States copyright office. You just have to own both the composition and recording of the song. But if you’re just the songwriter, you’ll need to copyright each song individually.