just posted this in the music forum, can i feasibly find the protection i deserve for my work, i would presumably be taking photocopied scans of the material to court/whoever is behind the copyright laws - i am a struggling writer/artist, and have not yet dove headfirst into attempting to promote my work without first contacting either a publisher or lawyer, or some form of legal advisor, as i am mainly entitled to the responsibility and credit for my work and am concerned about the major legalities concerning the copyrights and ownership laws. i tried to work out a deal with a band, but i didn't want to get too involved and commited over my head without first making a definate legal agreement to the rights that declare me legal ownership over songs/lyrics. is it that hard? ok, here atleast is my question. for so long i've admired tool (or insert band of choice here, for your convenience), but just lately i've been curious as to how the band managed to legally release their entire discography without having any lawsuits concerning anything related to piracy (not very important, i see, basically bootlegs, etc) or more importantly, theft, or the lowest form of literal theft, plaigarism. i know my work is altogether new, and raw, and would like to introduce it to the public (with the helping hand of a great ol' band) sometime, but how to get my foot in the door without worrying about people thieving my creations? i don't want to see or hear about people mentioning my work without mentioning me, or atleast repeatings quotes or some such drivel without atleast giving me credit? one last thing: when tool joined the label, did that basically just cover all the copyrights? because i am aiming for something a bit less drastic, as alas compared to tool i am a bit unheard of (though they are a great influence to me) and underground. if i just brought it to the surface in court would they want to skim/brief it or anything? (i know they want to make sure it is completely different and original and you are being honest) but would they question the content and deny it if it was a bit obscene? because i know tool's content is amazing, and if i can get my message out to people i will be satisfied. my ideas are along the lines of biblical, spiritual, sacrifical and anarchaic, would they salute me or think i'm a joke? ps- thanks for your time.
