If you're in Music/Audio as business (even part time) I tend to advise some course work in basic business, intellectual property, entertainment law etc.
finding appropriate course work is always problematic I am not sure how much of the Belmont University program in Music business is available as distance learning but here's a link that is worth investigating:
this takes you directly to course listings
http://www.belmont.edu/catalog/undergrad2007jun/cemb/courses.html#MBU
in theory copyright is assigned by the act of creation. in practice you need to register for a claim to have any standing in law here's the US gov site:
http://www.copyright.gov/register/sound.html
While registering costs you can register more then a single item per registration fee. Registering a recording does not confer copyright to the underlying music, in practice you should do both, but the more important (in my experience) is to register the music
"While copyright in the United States automatically attaches upon the creation of an original work of authorship, registration with the Copyright Office puts a copyright holder in a better position if litigation arises over the copyright. A copyright holder desiring to register his or her copyright should do the following:
1. Obtain and complete appropriate form.
2. Prepare clear rendition of material being submitted for copyright
3. Send both documents to U.S. Copyright Office in Washington, D.C.
Registration of copyright refers to the act of registering the work with the United States Copyright Office, which is an office of the Library of Congress. As the United States has joined the Berne Convention, registration is no longer necessary to provide copyright protection. However, registration is still necessary to obtain statutory damages in case of infringement.
Copyright Act §407 provides that the owner of copyright in a published or unpublished work may, at any time during the copyright, register the work with the Copyright Office. The purpose of the registration provisions is to create as comprehensive a record of U.S. copyright claims as is possible. To register, the registrant must complete an application form and send it, along with the filing fee and copies or phonorecords of the work, to the Copyright Office.
The Copyright Office reviews applications for obvious errors or lack of copyrightable subject matter, and then issues a certificate of registration.
Registration as a prerequisite to claim of moral rights violation: it's not necessary for any author to register prior to bringing suit for violation of the rights of attribution or integrity in a work of visual art, pursuant to Copyright Act §106A."
Mailing a copy of material, even via certified mail, is pretty much an old wives tail . . . in reality all registering the copyright does is provide a dated paper trail, in and of itself it does nothing to protect you . . . but without it pursuing any statutory redress. Having it (registration) doesn't help you. Not having it can hurt.
in any case copyright your stuff, take a course in business law, start hunting for a lawyer you can trust (a life time's endeavor) . . . similar to an IRS audit being a matter of 'when' (not 'if') in music biz copyright litigation is merely a matter of time (In response to a cease and desist from Warner Brothers, Grouch Marx counter sued, claiming infringement a his use of 'Brothers' was 'prior claim ' enforcable. story is probably apocryphal but underscores the extent to which people with more money then sense (Warner Brothers) will go to protect anything they think they might make more money on)
and need to reiterate, as many times as necessary, internet forums are not the appropriate forum for learning about this stuff . . . copyright law is a mess and you need to acquire a grounding in appropriate vocabulary prior to making any serious decisions about any of the issues
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