What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? NY
I am producing a musical project that includes a new musical composition, with lyrics that are a compilation/rearrangement of public domain texts. We tried to copyright this piece by listing the composer as author of the music, and me as the text arranger. The copyright office responded that since I used rearranged public domain text, I can't copyright that part of the piece. But I read that you can copyright compilations of previously written material, so I would think this qualifies. How would we approach that with the US patent office.... would we copyright the music and text as separate entities, or copyright the whole piece, text and music, as a compilation? Can we both list ourselves as authors in that case?
I am producing a musical project that includes a new musical composition, with lyrics that are a compilation/rearrangement of public domain texts. We tried to copyright this piece by listing the composer as author of the music, and me as the text arranger. The copyright office responded that since I used rearranged public domain text, I can't copyright that part of the piece. But I read that you can copyright compilations of previously written material, so I would think this qualifies. How would we approach that with the US patent office.... would we copyright the music and text as separate entities, or copyright the whole piece, text and music, as a compilation? Can we both list ourselves as authors in that case?