There is a copyright on the song, and another copyright for the sound recording (SR)
A song is legally copyrighted when you put it in fixed form...even if that "form" is only how you play it live.
You can sue someone who stole your song for however much they made from it, once you prove you had written it before they used it. However, you can not sue for punitive damages (possible future earnings lost because someone else recorded it) without having it on record in the Library of Congress.
A song is legally copyrighted when you put it in fixed form...even if that "form" is only how you play it live.
You can sue someone who stole your song for however much they made from it, once you prove you had written it before they used it. However, you can not sue for punitive damages (possible future earnings lost because someone else recorded it) without having it on record in the Library of Congress.
It is what it is until it isn't