Why you should register your works?

For this post, I've decided that I was going to address the problem caused behind the trend of not registering as artists/producers and not registering our works. 

Let’s start simple, what is a copyright? As explained in the MPA website, “copyright protects creative works and enables composers, literary authors, and other creators to be paid for their work.” In other words, when someone registers a song, that person will be receiving the revenue that comes from the sales or plays of that particular song. That person now controls that catalog and he/she should ensure the integrity and value of such works are respected. 

It is a wild and risky ride to be in the entertainment business (in whatever step of it) when you don't know much bout the legal aspect of it. Why? Because when the artist does not register his/her music, it can be available for anyone to claim it and register the catalog as their own.

What does this mean? It means that in the long run you as an artist that has not ownership of the music that you created will bellowing potential money and recognition just because someone got on the race to register your works before you and won.

Protecting my works? What will it cover?  First, copyrighting your works will protect any creative works such as,  literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works, sound recordings, films, broadcast (like performances), and typographical arrangements of a published edition. In the music world this includes lyrics, beats, videos, concerts, brands/names, etc.

Another thing that makes registering your works a great thing is the fact that if you wake up in the morning and you hear a “familiar” song n the radio and you had register your original work, you can bring suit against the person for copyright infringement given that you never granted permission to record/perform your work (song). We see this a lot in the music industry nowadays. A great example is the ‘Blurred Lines’ song by Pharrell Williams & Robin Thicke being sample from Marvin Gaye’s “Got to Give It Up”. Not only they sample but, they technically copied the song. They ended up paying the Estate of Marcus Gaye millions of dollars for that infringement. 

How can I protect my work? There are different ways to register your work. It can be through a publishing company or the DIY (Do-It-Yourself) Method, which is registering each work in the Library of Congress. You can do all of them in bulk or you can do each individual, it all depends on your budget and needs. The best explanation and instructions to register your work are from Ari Herstand, a musical guru. He went from working in Starbucks to self managing his music career to having his music on MTV shows, getting tours around the country, creating a super cool blog/website with a lot of information on how to grow your career. Go to his site where you're going to find a lot of useful information.

Registering your work is the most important thing you can do as an artist, producer, painter, etc. Getting your work linked to you is a way to not only get money but to also have the respect and recognition you deserve. This also goes together with registering yourself as an artist. 

For more information on how to register as an artist you can go to ASCAP (this is the one I am part of but there are others) and if you are outside of the United States you can also check ASCAP where they have all the associations affiliated to ASCAP in your home country.

Good luck with your career and feel free to comment or ask more questions!