Establishing Copyright in the UK

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To *establish* copyright to any song, article, drawing, artwork or software, one need only place it in an envelope and send it by registered post to oneself. Then place it away safely without opening it. In case of dispute, this will be accepted in evidence by any court of law.

Now it may sound basic, but this is the only thing that the UK law requires. But, of course, it's not infallible and lends itself to problems like getting lost or accidentally opened or damaged.

 To prevent this from happening, it is better to send the material to a Bank Manger or Solicitor, who may charge a fee.

Alternatively, "Stationer's Hall" in the UK will receive copyright evidence (cassette, sheet music/score, lyrics... whatever). For further details they may be contacted on:

Tel: +44 (0)171 248 2934.

Registering Copyright in the UK

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Once copyright is established then you can either do nothing further, OR get the Copyright Registered with one or more professional organizations. This is *Essential* if you intend to earn revenue from your copyrighted material, but it is important to be aware that *Registering* copyright IS NOT the same as *Establishing* copyright which is explained above. In order to Register your Copyright, you must first be in a position to prove that the copyright is actually

yours, (hence the registered mail business), and they are in fact two completely separate issues. It is also a salient point to note that if someone uses a piece of music which they believe to be out of copyright after having conducted searches with the following organizations which haven't revealed the presence of any copyright, then the artist's damages which he could win will be more limited than if he had registered his work publicly.

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If you are a professional musician, then you can apply for membership of the MCPS, but to become a member, you must have at least three songs published. Record Companies or Publishers can do this for you as part of their service if you don't qualify yourself.

They collect "Mechanical" royalties due to publisher and composer members from the recordings of their copyright musical works, payable when the works are *produced* (not necessarily sold or played). MCPS issues licences to the *producers* of CDs, records, tapes, videos, audio-visual, multimedia, broadcast and film production.

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Collects and distributes worldwide *performance* royalties on behalf of the Composer and Publisher Members. Derives income from the control of broadcasting and performing rights.

PRS issues licences to all kinds of venues, TV and radio broadcasters

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PPL is a non-profit making organization established in 1934 by the recording industry to administer public performance and broadcasting rights of their recordings. VPL (Video Performance Ltd) can be contacted at the same address. In common with PRS, PPL issues licences to all kinds of venues, radio and TV broadcasters, however, they act on behalf of the record industry, more than the artist.

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The above three organizations are the main three regulatory bodies controlling rights and licensing of recorded works and performances in the UK. There is also the MPA (Music Publisher's Association) which works mainly for the publishing industry, but who actually own

 MCPS. Then there is the BPI, (British Phonographic Industry) which represents the UK record industry to Government, Brussels and the General Public. If you want details of these organizations, just let me know and I'll send them to you.

Band Names and Patents

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Another popular question from bands and artists is how to protect a name, as the copyright laws in the UK do not give copyright protection to names or titles. The Patent Office can give advice as to the protection which can be afforded by the use of trademarks. The use of a trademark can also be useful in giving extra protection to certain artistic works such as logos. For further details, they may be contacted on:

Another useful contact on the subject of registering band names is as follows:

Contact: Peter Whitehead (Mention Andy at AlleyCat to him if you speak to him :-) )

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And Finally....

UK professional Musicians are able to become members of the "MU", which seeks to improve the status and remuneration of its members by protecting both contractual and statutory rights. Establishes pay agreements covering every type of employment for musicians, and also makes representations to Parliament on a wide range of music issues. They can offer advice and services on everything to do with copyright and performing rights. In fact their motto is "Keep Music Live", (which makes them a little unpopular with the UK record industry) <g>.

Final point if you would like to submit copyrights in the US (which are then internationally protected also) and I believe there is allowance for non-US citizens to register in the US copyright offices their web page is http://lcweb.loc.gov/copyrightthey will also answer email questions about copyright.

This information graciously provided by Andy Woolford at Cat Records in the U.K.

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