Protecting your material (and new EP)

[lollington]

Good evenin' chatters

I'm sure there must be existing posts about this on the forum, but I've learnt quite a bit on this subject in the last week, so thought I'd share here.

We've just finished our EP. You can listen to the whole thing [url="http://futurepilots.co.uk"]here.[/url]

The engineer asked if we had anything in place to protect the recording. I was under the impression that all material is copy write to the owner automatically and that 'buying' a copy write was urban legend. I think that's true, but you have to be able to [i]prove[/i] that you made the recording, or own the rights, just incase someone tries ripping it off.

This is where [url="http://www.ppluk.com/"]PPL[/url] come in. They're the folks who catalogue music and distribute royalties. Becoming a member is free - I have created a bedroom label for the band in order to obtain ISRC codes. These can be programmed into a master CD before duplication. It's wishful thinking to sign up with the assumption that the royalties your unsigned band will earn will be enough to give up the day job, but as far as protecting your work goes, it's fairly concrete. Their FAQ section is easy enough to understand and should help you on your way.

The EP was recorded at the [url="http://www.whstudio.co.uk/"]White House[/url] studio in Kewstoke. The engineer there, Martin, has some lovely equipment. He's been doing the job for years and he knows his stuff. Plus, he only charges £15 per hour. If you live in the southwest I highly recommend it.

Hope you enjoy the tracks.

[Rimskidog]

It's true to say that copyright arises automatically. It's also true that registering with ppl is the next stage of that protection. Unfortunately that also only gets you so far. Truth is if anyone from Lady Gaga to Dave Grohl nicks your work there is little chance you'll be able to do a thing about it. Why? Because the only party that can grant you the type of protection that matters is the court. And unless you are a millionaire you won't stand a snowballs chance litigating against someone with deep pockets. That's the very sad truth. So by all means protect your work to the best of your ability but also be realistic about where that protection gets you.

As has been said before: The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side.