Copyright subsists immediately upon creation of an original work. Period.
However, to enforce your 'copy
rights', you must be both able to prove the work is your original creation, and be willing and able to enforce your rights. (ie: The government will not help you enforce your copy
rights, you must hire your own lawyer to enforce your rights.)
In practical terms, you may use the most basic, inexpensive method which is to write down your work on paper and then mail it to yourself and/or a third party and leave the envelope(s) unsealed.. Be aware that
if you ever have to prove your original work was created prior to the date of infringement, that the lawyers on the other side may well challenge the authenticity and security of the document/envelope.
You can also do this by emailing the work to yourself and/or a third party. Use plain text in the email as well as an attached PDF, and maybe a video of yourself reading or performing the work... and even in front of the TV with that day's live news broadcast. All these times should line up to the second to enhance authenticity. You could even add in a close friend to verify as a personal witness. Again, this method is open to examination and attempts to discredit the authenticity by opposing counsel.
Third is to deposit your work with the Canadian Intellectual Property Office and formally register the copyrights to your work. This is easy and costs $65 if you register online.
Here is the link to that page.
https://ised-isde.canada.ca/site/ca...opyright/registration-copyright-filing-online.
You log in using a CRA "My Business" account. (Easy to create) and use a credit card to pay the fee.
Enforcement
Most importantly, like patents and other intellectual property protections, unless you are willing and able to hire lawyers to enforce and defend your rights, the protection is hollow.
And unlike most people thinking a patent / copyright is a license to print money, unless someone is willing to buy your song, book or patented item, the intellectual property protection is worthless and quite often a waste of time, effort and money.
Getting someone famous to sing your song.
Good luck! Not trying to discourage you but that is not going to be easy. It might even be impossible to get them to even see your words.
Most famous artists have a 'Chinese Wall' set up. They forward all
unsolicited materials to their lawyer and/or set aside and quarantine unopened materials and/or return to sender. (Same with lots of companies who receive
unsolicited business or product ideas.
The reason they do this is to reduce the possibility that their own original works may be challenged if the artist themselves, by themselves, comes up with some part of your song/lyrics/work and then someone comes out of the woodwork and says...
'Hey! I wrote that and sent it to you... you stole my work and owe me money!'
My suggestion is to write and develop your lyrics a bit more, such that they may be attractive to your target audience (the 'famous person') then do the DIY postmarked mail/send email and attachment to yourself method.
Then find the name and contact info of the artist's agent, write them a nice, clear concise BRIEF email saying you have lyrics that you would be honoured if the artist would read them. Mention the main thrust/message of the song (It's a song about my experience in life about ABC and how it relates to famous person or why they would like your lyrics). That you wrote them / were inspired specifically for that artist (without coming off as creepy) .
This creates interest and curiousity as well as allowing the agent/artist an out or protection of saying that the artist is working on something similar. Don't menntion anything commercial or about copyright etc at this stage. Just leave it at you'd be honoured for them to read your work. It allows them to let down their guard.
This creates interest and curiousity as well as allowing the agent/artist an out or protection of saying that the artist is working on something similar.
And then see what comes of it.
IF you get any indication of a positive response,
then you might want to invest the $63 and 30 minutes to register copyright with CIPO before sending the lyrics. And whatever you do, DON'T talk about commercializing the lyrics until the artist or agent brings it up. It's like fishing, you don't want to spook the fish before it takes the bait.
And be civilized and normal. Maybe find a normal friend to review/edit your emails to the agent before sending. The absolute best writers in the world use and
need editors. (But don;t ask your editor to help with the lyrics at all...otherwise they may become the co-author. Unless you formalize an agreement that they are an editor, not the authour. Then you will need a lawyer for sure!)
Good luck.