It use to be musicians and bands would put together a demo tape of songs and then go into an expensive studio to make the multi-track recordings. The demos would be low fidelity (lo-fi) recordings. The studio recordings would be high fidelity (hi-fi) recordings. The general population would hardly ever get to hear material from the demos. In fact, quite often the artists would get upset if the low quality recordings got leaked out to the public. After all, they have an image to maintain. The demos were often recorded with an open microphone on to a cassette recorder. They just could not compare to a recording made in a professional studio on equipment that costs tens of thousands of dollars.
Over the past couple of decades, things have dramatically changed. Computers, the Internet and digital technology have become quite affordable. Now, a fairly high fidelity recording can be made with only a minor investment. Computer hardware and software programs make it possible to work on a song, lay down a track or two, and come back later to tweak the engineering or add other tracks.
A Work In Progress
This is something that I really enjoy. It makes it possible to write songs and then re-visit them later. However, there is a problem with doing this. Copyright law does not allow you to copyright a work in progress. This is another of the reasons why in years gone pasts artists didn’t want to release their demos. Which version of a song is the one with the copyright? Add to this the problem of publishing rights and an artist can have a real legal mess.
Do you need to submit a copyright application to the Library Of Congress for a copyright to be valid? No. You do not. However, you can if you want to. I use to. A “Work In Progress” conflict convinced me to stop (that and the cost of applying for thousands of copyrights.) Several years ago I submitted songs to the Library Of Congress as Works In Progress. At that time, I was one of the first publishers on the Internet. I’d come to enjoy the ability to interact with the audience. After hearing what they had to say, I could go back and “fool with the sound.” Why does a song ever have to be done? The evolution of a song can be as satisfying as having a song in the can.
I submitted a batch of songs to the Library Of Congress as Works In Progress. Somehow, they made it through and received a recorded copyright number. Several weeks later, I got a call from an official at the Library. They asked me to tear up my documents. I did not. To this day I have what might be the only official Library Of Congress copyrights on Works In Progress.
Since this process seemed so ridiculous, I stopped applying to the Library. 1) Why does an artist make music? In my case, it’s to enjoy getting a message out. Copyright law can ruin that. 2) The Internet has rendered applying for copyrights fairly useless. Since an artist can almost instantly publish their copyrights to the Internet, proof of date and distribution is very easy. And, when it comes down to copyright law, that is more important than a document from the Library Of Congress.
These are some of the reasons I will be posting lo-fi demos that are works in progress. Stay tuned….