Kill the DJ – “How do I prove I own my song?” — We asked lawyers so you don’t have to

Rimon Partner Celeste Moy was recently interviewed by Kill the DJ, where she discussed how musicians can protect their creative work. She emphasized the importance of copyright registration to establish ownership, protect against infringement, and qualify for statutory damages.

So you’ve written a song…but how do you prove you actually own it? Distributors, music supervisors, or even lawyers may ask you to do so during copyright infringement disputes, but how can you prove the song belongs to you? Is copyright protection that automatically applies to all creative pieces enough, or should you take some additional steps? What should you do if you’re not signed to a big label that handles these issues for you?

We asked lawyers these and other questions so that you don’t have to.

The first and the most obvious advice would be to keep all drafts, recordings, and written compositions with a clear date. You can email them to yourself or use a timestamping service; some platforms, like blockchain-based services, offer immutable timestamps to prove when a work was created. Although this isn’t as strong as official copyright registration, it can help prove you created the work at a specific time.

Read the full interview here: How Do I Prove I Own My Song? Lawyers & Experts Explain (killthedj.com)

This summary is provided for informational purposes only and is not intended to constitute legal advice nor does it create an attorney-client relationship with Rimon, P.C. or its affiliates.

Celeste Moy is a Partner in Rimon’s Entertainment Sports & Media practice group.  Ms. Moy has extensive music and entertainment law experience primarily representing songwriters, and their successors-in-interest, in disputes over royalty payments and royalty monetization transactions, copyright assignment terminations and recaptures, as well as negotiating and drafting various types of entertainment contracts for recording and performing artists and music producers.  She also helps her clients to obtain trademark registrations and trademark license agreements for use of their logos, and creative works in connection with advertising, marketing materials and merchandise. Read more here.