# How to properly copyright your material?



## Pneumonic (Feb 14, 2008)

Just wondering if anyone has any input, ideas and/or suggestions on how best to copyright new material (without actually registering it with the copyright office) before disclosing it to the world to hear?

I know in the past some people used to mail themselves lyrics/music in order to time/date stamp it .............


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## Guest (Jul 22, 2010)

Copyright Law - the answer to your question is about 4 down that list. You do not need to do this before revealing it to the public (copyrights are not like patents in that regard where you have a limited time to file after the knowledge is made public).


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## david henman (Feb 3, 2006)

...just join SOCAN and register all your recordings with them.


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## snacker (Jun 26, 2008)

songwriters association of canada song vault...
Canadian Song Vault


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## jimsz (Apr 17, 2009)

david henman said:


> ...just join SOCAN and register all your recordings with them.


Hi David, I filled out the online application and provided all the information except my SIN as that was not one of the boxes that had a star* beside it. However, I've now been sent an email with an attached form to fill out and send back.No problem there. The strange thing is that in the email, they said they cannot process my application with my SIN. Do you know what this is about and why I have to provide my SIN to them?


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## Guest (Jul 29, 2010)

jimsz said:


> Do you know what this is about and why I have to provide my SIN to them?


SOCAN is responsible for collecting performance royalties for writer it represents. As such, it's also responsible for disseminating those royalties to those authors. And for reporting back to the Gov't of CAD what royalties it has paid out to each of those authors on a quarterly basis so income taxes can be assessed accordingly.

Your SIN number is required for the tax filing.

I'd also like to point out that registering a work with SOCAN isn't the same as registering your copyright. Copyright exists as soon as a work is created. It is assigned implicitly to the creator. So lets say someone writes a piece of music and 10 years later someone else registers that music with SOCAN. That someone else doesn't automatically get the copyright because they registered with SOCAN first. It might make it easier for them to prove they created it, or harder for the actual author to prove they created it, but it doesn't assign the copyright to the SOCAN registeree automatically.

SOCAN isn't the copyright office.


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## jimsz (Apr 17, 2009)

Thanks Ian, that makes a whole lot more sense. 

I also found this:

"A SIN is considered the personal information of the individual to whom it is assigned and, therefore, is subject to federal and some provincial privacy laws. SOCAN is committed to protecting the privacy of its members and adheres to these laws. This means that SOCAN protects personal information about its members. SOCAN will not use or disclose personal information for purposes other than for which it was collected, except with the consent of the individual or as required by law. "


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