This is probably a good time to read "All You Need to Know About the Music Business", by Donald Passman. It gives solid, detailed information on copyrights, contracts, and such things. He is a top music attorney, and knows all the pitfalls, and he tells you what they are and how to deal with them. You can find it at Amazon for less than twenty bucks, and, you can write it off on your income tax.

And Gargoyle is wrong--you can copyright a recording--