How to copyright a song

First of all, the music industry is constantly evolving and copyright protection remains a major issue for artists. As a music creator, it is important to know how to protect your music copyright. In this article, we will give you some tips on how to protect your musical works.

Register your music

First of all, the first step to protect your music copyright is to register your music with the competent organization. In France, the SACEM (Society of Authors, Composers and Music Publishers) is in charge of managing music copyrights. 

Therefore, to register with SACEM, you must provide a recording of your music as well as a registration form.

Indeed, by registering your music with SACEM, you obtain a proof of your copyright. This proof can be used in case of infringement or litigation concerning your copyright.

You can also use MusicStart with SACEM right here to protect your music.

Secondly, if you distribute your music outside of France, it may be wise to register with other copyright management societies to protect yourself and collect royalties for your works in those countries.

This can be especially important if you are an artist who tours abroad or if your music is broadcast internationally. Here is a list:

ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers): this society administers copyrights for authors, composers and publishers of music in the United States.

BMI (Broadcast Music, Inc.): This society administers the copyrights of authors, composers and music publishers in the United States.

SESAC (Society of European Stage Authors and Composers): This society administers the copyrights of authors, composers and music publishers in the United States.

PRS for Music (Performing Right Society): this society administers the copyright of authors, composers and publishers of music in the United Kingdom.

GEMA (Gesellschaft für musikalische Aufführungs- und mechanische Vervielfältigungsrechte): this society manages the copyrights of authors, composers and music publishers in Germany.

How to copyright music

Because of the ease of sharing music on the internet, it is important to protect your music copyright online. You can do this by using online music distribution services such as Spotify, Deezer or Apple Music

Moreover, these services protect your copyrights by limiting access to your music to people who have paid to listen to it.

Therefore, it is also important to tag your music with metadata to prevent someone else from downloading and sharing it on other platforms.

So, metadata contains information such as the artist’s name, song title, genre and year of release.

Second, you can also protect your copyright by using licenses. Licenses allow others to use your music for a fee or attribution. Creative Commons licenses are very popular for music and allow artists to share their music while protecting their copyright.

Then Creative Commons licenses allow you to choose the conditions for sharing your music, such as whether or not you allow modifications to your music and whether or not you allow commercial use.

Finally, protecting your music copyright is essential for artists who want to ensure that their music will not be used without their permission or without compensation. By following the steps we have outlined in this article, you can protect your music copyright effectively.

Remember that it is important to be vigilant on the internet and not to hesitate to seek professional advice if you have any doubts or questions about protecting your copyrights. In short, protecting your music copyrights is an important issue that deserves special attention for any artist who wants to succeed in the music industry. And to start distributing your music, it’s right here with Wiseband.