The Yamaha AN1x Synthesizer mailing list

Bruce Wahler schreef:
> 
> It costs nothing to copyright a document or musical piece.  All you have to do is a) note that it is copyrighted somewhere on the document; and b) be able to prove that you actually copyrighted the item on a certain date.  The easiest way to accomplish b) is to print a copy of the document/music with the words "Copyright (C) 2003 by John E. Doe.  All rights reserved."  Then seal this up in an envelope, put a stamp on it, and mail it to yourself.  DO NOT open the envelope when you get it back from the post office; file it away in a safe or safe deposit box.  It will have a postmark and cancelled stamp on it, which is accepted in court as proof of date, should legal action be required at some point.

Ah, the ever so popular Sealed Envelope Mailed To Yourself myth. This 
crops up every now and again on music related mailing lists. I usually 
write a small treatise listing the reasons why relying on this method is 
very unwise, but suffice to say that, legally speaking, this method has 
more holes in it than the average Iraqi armoured vehicle.

The *only* reliable way of proving that you wrote a particular piece of 
music on a certain date is to deposit it at a notary.

- Peter