Hello everyone, and thanks for your responses. Greko gave a concise answer to the first part of my question, and since nobody has contradicted what he said, I'm going to believe him pending further comment.

Q, thanks for the useful links about copyright. However, you are mistaken about why I asked: I really am trying to find out about publication, not copyright. The main reason I want to know is this: I've done some looking into songwriting competitions, and I've noticed that several of them say the entries have to be unpublished songs, and I don't know if my songs are technically published or not. I've put the lyrics on a website, and given away several copies of a home recording of them, so if Greko is right then I guess they already are self-published.

Jed, you are also mistaken about my intentions: since my writing style right now doesn't have much mainstream/commercial potential, getting a deal with a publishing company isn't a goal of mine. What I would like to do within the next few years is do what a lot of people in the folkie genre do: make an indie CD by paying for the recording, production, and manufacturing myself, then sell the CDs at shows or through the mail. It's my understanding that when people do that, then the songs are self-published.

But I've also noticed that some people go on to form a publishing company just for themselves (just as there appears to be a difference between starting your own personal record label and putting out the CD without a label - both of which are very different from getting a deal with a multi-artist record label). Cluin said, I guess there's nothing stopping you from founding your own publishing company; many artists have. Sounds like a lot of work and bother to me, but if it's worth it to you, more power to you. But what I want to know is why it would be worth it to me or not. What are the pros and cons of starting your own publishing company?

And what MMario said brings me to a few more questions about what publication means. I've heard that once a song is published it's out there in the marketplace so anyone who wants to can record or otherwise use it, as long as they pay you mechanical royalties, as MMario just said. Are there other legal implications to publication besides this universal right to record the song? And does that right to record also apply to advertising use?

For an unlikely example, if Nike wants to use a song I've published in a commercial, do I have no right to prevent this as long as they've written the cheque? I ask this because I remember people saying "sell-out" a few years ago when "The Times They Are A-Changing" was used in a bank commercial - but if my understanding of the publication process is correct, the bank didn't need Dylan's permission to use the song.

Thanks all,

Marion