Copyright

It starts at fixation

Circular 1 says copyright protects original works of authorship fixed in a tangible form of expression. An original work is independently created by a human author and has at least some minimal creativity. A work is fixed when it is captured, by or under the authority of an author, in a medium stable enough to be perceived, reproduced, or communicated for more than a short time. Protection exists automatically from that moment.

Copyright does not protect an idea, a method, a title, a name, or a short phrase. The song title is not the copyright. The melody and lyrics that were fixed can be. An unfixed improvisation is not protected until it is written down or recorded.

Registration is a separate act

You do not have to file before the copyright exists. Registration is how you put a claim on record with the U.S. Copyright Office, and Circular 56A is the music-specific instruction. A composition registration does not cover the master. A master registration does not cover the composition. One application can cover both only when the Office’s conditions are met: same phonorecord, same claimant.

This page does not quote a filing fee. The Office’s fee schedule is the number to use, and it changes. Duration is also in Circular 1. It depends on when the work was created and on whether it is a work made for hire, so this page does not restate a single term.

A generator does not answer the question

The Office’s definition requires a human author. A tool that generates audio does not, by existing, tell you whether you own a copyright in the output, whether the company does, or whether no one does. Read the plan you are on, and read the Office’s current guidance, before you release the file or register a claim. The tools paired with this chapter are in the directory because their own sites already limit commercial use by plan.