As a songwriter, film maker, author, photographer, playwright or artist, you should copyright everything. The reasoning is this. You never know what is going to generate interest and you want to have paperwork for it to move forward. You can’t sell your work without paperwork. It’s like trying to sell a car without a title. No legitimate publisher, music supervisor, music label, production company or anyone else interested in leasing or publishing your work will move forward without copyright.

Copyright protects the artist from theft or unauthorized use. Distribution rights are what you sell or lease if you hold the copyright on a piece of material. No copyright, no distribution deal.

Up to 10 works can be copyrighted under one fee. If someone shows interest in a particular composition, you can break that work out as a separate copyright (for an additional fee.)

While copyright exists from the moment your creation is set down in a fixed form; on paper, as a recording (digital, analog, soundtrack) or other tangible form, the problems start when someone comes forward and says “That’s my song” or “I co-wrote that work” and you have to prove ownership. The general rule is: First one to the copyright office wins.

FYI, you give up your right for compensation of anything you post on social media when you sign their agreement. This means that the social media platform you have posted on can use your song, film, photo, etc to promote themselves or lease to a third party without compensating you.

For more information, go to https://copyright.gov/