Follow these steps to register your
recording of your song or music.
Step 1
Make sure your work is a sound recording. Sound recordings are
“works that result from the fixation of a series of musical, spoken,
or other sounds, but not including the sounds accompanying a motion
picture or other audiovisual work.”
Copyright registration for a sound recording alone is neither the
same as, nor a substitute for, registration for the musical,
dramatic, or literary work recorded. The underlying work may be
registered in its own right apart from any recording of the
performance, or in certain cases, the underlying work may be
registered together with the sound recording.
Step 2
Put into one envelope or package:
- a completed application Form SR
- a $30 payment to "Register of
Copyrights."
- non-returnable copy of the
material to be registered
Step 3
Send the package to:
Library of Congress
Copyright Office
101 Independence Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20559-6000
Your registration becomes effective on the day that the Copyright
Office receives your application, payment, and copy in
acceptable form. If your submission is in order, you will receive a
certificate of registration in 4 to 5 months.
