The monthly Guthers question

[Phil Lawton]

Robin

Let's say a certain person (let's also say he's from Sutton Coldfield) meets up with an old friend and ex-band colleague who, it transpires, has produced several singles for local acts.

Let's also say that the Sutton Coldfield person (we'll call him Algernon) has a wealth of original material that his friend offers to both produce and play guitar on.

What is the best way, in the short term, to protect the material from plagiarism until (and, indeed, after) the unlikely event that the aforesaid friend-producer-guitarist can get it to the "contacts" he so blithely tells Algernon he has?

Should I, er, I mean "he" lock a copy of the master in a bank vault? Lodge it with a solicitor? What?

[REPLICESS]

Bloody Hell Phil ! that good is it ????? ;)

*Sticks nose in*
Not directed at me, obviously, but I'd say if you don't trust him with it, take it elsewhere ? .........

[Phil Lawton]

Rep

It's not that I don't trust Brian - he's been a mate for longer than I care to remember. He has only ever produced material for acts who have gone on to get deals and has no clear idea of how to protect the stuff.

It was actually his idea for me to ask around - as I've asked him to add bits to my material here and there (and, therefore, give him some co-authorship credits) he's as eager as I am that no-one gets their mitts on it.

Bloody Hell Phil ! that good is it ?????

Rep, I hate blowing my own trumpet, but Brian seems to think so, as does his brother John, who's doing some of the keyboard work.

It'll probably come to nought (I fully expect it to be heard by friends and relatives only), but Brian seems convinced that it might go futher.

We'll see.

You have any ideas, Rep? Or anyone else?

[E-Lo]

I am not familiar with intellectual property laws in the U.K., but in the U.S. we have a form and small fee to submit recorded works on CD, tape, etc. to the U.S. copyright office.

[santeras]

You can certainly do a similar thing in the UK where you take your work to a solicitor in a sealed envelope and he acts as a trustee, in essence assuring of the originality of your work.

The cheaper alternative is to post the work to yourself via recorded delivery and leave it sealed once you recieve it. For somebody starting out it's the easiest way.

Good luck with it mon brave :)

[jana]

take lyrics or musical composition and mail it to yourself. (poor mans copyright)
don't open it.

the postal stamp will prove via date.

the end!

[Lucibelle]

I was about to suggest the same thing as jana. I'd burn it onto a CD and mail it to yourself.

[dprid]

Suggest you take it to a PO personally rather than drop it in a postbox and ask them to hand stamp it if possible as many postmarks are almost unreadable these days. Solicitors, banks etc will hold/witness documents, but it'll cost you far more than postage. Just make sure you don't post your only copy, not with the PO the way it is today!

[Phil Lawton]

Thanks for all of the suggestions, chaps and chapesses.

As the present Mrs Lawton works for a legal company, I may see if they can do something. Failing that, a 29p stamp and some sealing wax will have to do.

[Lucibelle]

What about a Notery Public? They could do this as well, couldn't they?

[zed]

.....LuciB,.......'fraid not, only a postmark is considered legal.
a notary public stamp is not binding in court. it only certifies an object is what it is. not who made it or whatever.
i hold tons of copyrights. the old mail it to yourself is the best, cheapest way to do it. when you get into trademarks and the like,........time to call out the sharks. yuck.

Z.

[santeras]

Is my post only visible to me???

I should be used to being ignored by now I guess.

Whatever...

[zed]

J,.......

so, you get that too?:eek: :eek:

Z.

[Lucibelle]

roflmao Sorry santeras!! I don't know why I did that. You DID say the exact same thing, didn't you? Must've had a brain fart. :eek:

[iceblink555]

Always lookin' for the "what if"...

So... what if someone was to mail their work to themselves, then later steam open the envelope, change the contents, and reseal it?! Isn't this a potential weakness/drawback in this method of copyright?

--Alan

[Lucibelle]

You can do a couple of things here... You can use extra (strong) tape to seal the envelope, and you can also take magic marker and draw lines across the tape and seal. To get these lines to match up perfectly once it has been opened is next to impossible, particularly if you draw the lines across the extra tape. (in other words, draw the lines so they start on the envelope, go across the tape, and back on the envelope again)

[santeras]

All you have to do is to put your signature over the seal (and somebody elses if you can) or some kind of stamp, postal or otherwise.

Apologies for the outburst earlier folks, clouds on the horizon and in the mind. Old age he he he.