Pittsburgh Business Daily

How can I legally distribute a self-made cd?

I have a friend who has recorded her own Christian music cd. We want to distribute it. How do we pay for the rights for the arrangements? Any suggestions for organizations that do this?

Public Comments

1. If this is original work (i.e. she wrote the words and music) you just need to file for copyright with the federal government. There is a form on the Copyright office website: http://www.copyright.gov/. At that point you just need to physically make and sell the CDs. If the music was NOT written by you (lyrics or notes), you must get permission from the rightsholder of each piece. There are various Song Clearing Services that will help you do this, but for many songs that will get expensive.
2. Package it and market them. I do believe you ned to deal with a copy right law if you are using traditional Christmas music. Some one always owns the rights to every song.
3. I would think that if you recorded your own music (singing and instraments) that there won't be any copyright infringments.