Help: I just stdio-recrdd evrythng, no paperwk

Subject: RE: Help: I just stdio-recrdd evrythng, no paperwk
From: GUEST
Date: 19 Jul 02 - 10:04 AM

I think I believe the studio guy when he says the masters belong to me, but he'll keep them as long as I need them, or I can keep them.

Thanks for the responses.

Subject: RE: Help: I just stdio-recrdd evrythng, no paperwk
From: NicoleC
Date: 18 Jul 02 - 11:48 PM

"Registered trademark" symbols? If you are going to claim a trademark, that needs to be registered, too -- in advance. Just saying it's a trademark doesn't make it so -- the laws are tougher than copyrighting.

If it's just your name in a nice font, you don't need to register it: you can't trademark a font and you don't need to trademark your legal name (like "John Smith.")

Subject: RE: Help: I just stdio-recrdd evrythng, no paperwk
From: MMario
Date: 18 Jul 02 - 09:30 AM

And if you copyright the collection it's cheaper!

Subject: RE: Help: I just stdio-recrdd evrythng, no paperwk
From: GUEST,maryrrf
Date: 18 Jul 02 - 09:21 AM

What I would do is just go ahead and copyright it now through the US Copyright Office (assuming you're in the USA?). It's easy and you could actually use a copy of the recording you just made (you have to send a recording - cassette or CD - of the songs you want copyrighted). Although it takes several months to get copyright confirmation, the material is copyrighted from the date it is received at the Copyright office. I doubt if anybody will rip off your songs within the next couple of weeks unless you flood the market with the recordings. I would not give out copies of those recordings, however, untill you've sent off those copyright papers. At this point you probably don't need to worry about ASCAP or BMI, but go ahead and get your copyright.

Subject: I just stdio-recrdd evrythng, no paperwk
From: GUEST
Date: 18 Jul 02 - 03:20 AM

Being that it's in the genre of folk-music, and I'm completely unknown and unproven, it may not mattter. But this is what happened...

I recorded all of my original music at a studio before copyrighting it (officially) or doing any ascap or bmi stuff.

In designing the label, the guy was really lose about the copyright and registered trademark symbols. Am I "exposed"?

Thanks