Any Songwriters here?

[Lyanne]

My daughter wrote a song that I'd like to record and post on Facebook for my friends to see, but she said she's afraid someone will steal it. (I guess she thinks it's good huh? lol) I googled "how to copyright a song" but I am not sure I trust the results, and of course the US Copyright website is no help, lol. Has anyone ever done this? Is it really as easy as creating a free account with the US copyright office, filling out a form, and uploading the song? And of course paying $65.
TIA!

Edited to add: And do you think all these kids who write original stuff and post it on youtube are copyrighted? Or concerned about their songs being stolen?

[nleamons]

Although I don't usually write songs; I do write poetry and I have looked at copyrighting my best poems. Similar to your daugther I too have my concerns of other people wanting to steal my poems. I only share with my immediate family and close relatives. I agree with your daughter that posting the song on Facebook is not a good idea especially since it sounds as though the song is good. I do not think that everyone who posts on YouTube realize why it is not a good idea to do so, but perhaps some of them do not care about their original stuff as much as others do. Does she have the song in tangible form? Visit this useful link for more information. How do I copyright my original music? - ArtistshouseMusic If the song is in a tangible form. Then it is already copyrighted. My understanding of the copyright process is that unless the song is copyrighted; one cannot collect the royalities from others who use the song. If you use the online process to copywrite an original work; it only costs $35 to do so.

[Lyanne]

Thanks a lot. It's good to know your link had the same info I read. I may copyright it just for kicks in case.....