That letter bit is nonsense. An old wives tale.

Guests, please use a uniform name when you post or one of the clones will delete your messages.

What is the problem with the song in question? Has someone else performed it and not given credit or payment? Is it simply a song written and performed by your stepdad or does it have legs and a history?

Publishing something is usually enough these days, to kick copyright into gear. But where to publish would be the question. Or do you want to file for copyright with forms, etc, and are you will to pay fees. I'm sure there are more questions I could list, but I'll stop here for now.

To begin with, get a copy of the most current Writer's Market, put out annually by Writer's Digest magazine. It's a big thick book that will have basic copyright information for all sorts of written materials. They also have spinoff books for poetry, etc., and you could look there as well. Barnes and Noble, Amazon, all sorts of bookstores big and small should have it. They have a web presence also, but I think the book would be easier overall. I suspect a trip down the Barnes and Noble and some quiet time reading the book with a cuppa coffee will answer some of your more pressing questions.

If you're dealing with infringement, then you have a larger problem and then you need an attorney, as Gargoyle said.

SRS