That’s right! For all of the creative people out there these folks, who hail from Calgary, Canada started up a little copyright biz in 2003 to help artists protect their creations and ideas. Artists, writers and musicians alike are taking advantage of this updated, more effective version of what is known as “the poor man’s copyright.”

For those of you who are not familiar with this, let me explain.

The poor man’s copyright is a way for people to copyright their work. The concept is simple: you put your work in an envelope and address it to yourself, seal it, stamp it and throw it in the mail. Once you receive it back, the envelope will be postmarked. This gives you date-stamp evidence proving that you created the work held within on that day.

This is an easy way to copyright; it is legal and will hold up in court, as long as you do not open the envelope: it must remain sealed to be valid.

So now you may ask, if you can copyright like that, why bother with worldwideocr.com? I’ll tell you why. The traditional poor man’s copyright poses a lot of risks for error, loss and more headaches than it’s worth.

First, you should get yourself a safe-deposit box at the post office to store your documents for safe keeping. However, this is inconvenient and costly, plus they are only big enough to fit 3 or 4 documents, so if you had more than that, you would have to purchase another one. Let’s face it, those who create do so constantly and need copyrights, so there’s always going to be a need for more space to store documents.

Second, if you choose not to use a safe-deposit box and store them at home then you face the danger of losing them or having them damaged and/or opening them by mistake. I can attest to having done all the above. Yes, it’s true; I have lost some of mine in the process of moving. I have soaked some with spilled beer, coffee and soda only to watch them fall apart. I have also opened up that envelope in the bottom of my drawer because I forgot what was in it. By doing all the above I was left with the hassle of redoing the whole process over and over again, which is a pain and waste of time.

What makes www.worldwideocr.com more efficient, safe and effective, one might ask? Technology and experience.

They have taken an archaic process and revamped it to provide an online service that is convenient, affordable, instant and intellectual, and gives creators the copyright and property protection they deserve. Their membership fees and copyright cost are very reasonable, especially for the services provided. They store your documents in their own file, which is bottomless (unlike a safe-deposit box). You have your own password that gives you security and protection as well as the ability to login and download the sealed files that provide date-stamp evidence 24/7.

This process takes all of five minutes. Once you receive your seal you are ready to shop your ideas and creations to labels, publishers, studios and other corporate entities without worry of theft. Worldwideocr.com acts as a third party witness and gives people a great archiving solution that is totally legit.

Oh – and the Better Business Bureau gives them the big “thumbs up.”

I am definitely going to start taking advantage of worldwideocr.com because for me it is a perfect solution for taking care of all my copyright and storage needs. What I also like about this online company is their honesty. They are not trying to dissuade anyone from going to the Library of Congress to copyright work; in fact, they encourage you to do so.

As we all know, sometimes it takes awhile to get things processed when dealing with those guys in DC. Worldwideocr.com is just a quick way for you to protect your work during this waiting period, allowing you to shop your work without hesitation. Getting a jump on the competition is always a good thing. Those who have to wait are usually to late when it comes to landing the “big deal.”

For more information and all the specifics please go to www.worldwideocr.com . I recommend it.

-Mr. Sid, December 10th, 2004

We Want To Hear From You

We have hundreds of bands on this mailing list, but we seem to receive updates from just a handful of bands, so that's who we feature in Music Buzz every week. If you are a local Colorado band, we want to hear from you. This is what we typically look for, but is not limited to what you can feed us.

New music being written or recorded, when your new CD or EP is being set to release

• A CD Release Party—if you can give us at least a month's notice or more that is ideal. If you won't have the CD available until right before the party (as most do), get us the best burned copy you can with your band bio.
• Are you going on tour? If so, where and who are you on tour with?
• Are you opening up for any national acts?
• Any changes in your line-ups or are looking for new band members?
• A new label signing, license agreement, or sponsorship?

Again, please add our email address bands@kaffeinebuzz.com to your mailing list and we will do our best to make your news known to the world, or at least us folks in the Rocky state. It will typically appear two weeks from submission, depending on when you send it during the week.