Songwriter Paul Terry King has again challenged my position regarding his copyright for the songs he claims to have written with Elvis Presley in 1973. This time, however, King has changed his set of facts. Last year, King posted the following on a public message board:
“First and foremost he starts off that a bmi registration and a United States copyright registration mean nothing as to proof of authorship! How wrong you are Mr. Lacy! In fact its known as prima facia evidence in legal terms and that is why the penaltys for false statements on a copyright are so severe 10yr imprisonment and up to a $350,000 fine!!!”
Notice that he refers to copyright registration, and proof of authorship. In response to King, I posted an analysis of his claims on the Elvis Decoded blog, and included an explanation of why King is incorrect. The full response can be found here at http://elvisdecoded.blogspot.com/ (the March 16, 2008 post), but the main points are:
1. From the Copyright Office in Washington DC:
“The Copyright Office is an office of public record. We make a public record of a claim to copyright. We do not investigate whether or not the information on an application is valid. In the specific example you gave, the claimant stated in the application that the work was created in 1973, which is before his co-author's death. He does not give his co-author's name as the claimant, only as the author.”
2. “Futher, as I write on the Elvis Decoded webpage: ‘PTK [Paul Terry King] copyrighted this song in 1993, 20 years after the song was supposedly written. This is a clear indication that the CO does not, and cannot, investigate claims of authorship. Otherwise, they would have refused the registration because they were not able to confirm with Elvis Presley that he co-wrote the song, since Elvis Presley had been deceased for 16 years.’I stand by my research and analysis. Mr. King is wrong. His registration with the Copyright Office does NOT support his contention that Elvis Presley is the confirmed co-writer of the song. The Copyright Office does NOT confirm and does NOT investigate authorship.
Finally, I would like to address King’s claim that making a false statement on a copyright registration is subject to a penalty of up to a $350,000 fine and/or 10 years imprisonment.The Copyright Office seems to have a different set of facts. Here is what the CO says (from http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap5.html#506):
(e) False Representation. — Any person who knowingly makes a false representation of a material fact in the application for copyright registration provided for by section 409, or in any written statement filed in connection with the application, shall be fined not more than $2,500.’
Paul Terry King, in the interest of full disclosure, should reveal where and how he determined that a false claim on a copyright registration is subject to such severe penalties, when the actual punishment is quite unremarkable. And nowhere do I see any mention of prison.” [end]
So, it seems pretty clear that we are addressing the question of copyright registration.
Now, however, in his April 29, 2008, post on http://www.elvis-express.com/, King has changed his facts and states the following:
(29.04.08) Paul Terry King USA "As for an EER interview one on one with Patrick Lacy on the Joe Krein Special next week all I would say to that head in the sand scholar Lacy is for him to pop in any DVD and the first words seen are" Warning Infingements are investigated by the FBI and punishable by 5 yr imprisonment and a 250,000 fine not a paltry 2500 dollar fine for claiming Elvis as a co-author as he describes in his latest blog 'The Copyright Office vs Paul Terry King' on the net."
Here, King suggests I should view the opening sequences of any DVD and find the correct information on copyright infringement, and the penalties for said infringement. However, nowhere in my analyses of King’s claims have I ever mentioned copyright infringement, and nowhere in his various online posts about me and my work has he mentioned copyright infringement. The issue is copyright registration, which is addressed by me in my blog and on my webpage, and is also addressed by Mr. King himself in his previous posting about my position on his story (cited above).
Let’s read again what King posted last year:
“First and foremost he starts off that a bmi registration and a United States copyright registration mean nothing as to proof of authorship! How wrong you are Mr. Lacy! In fact its known as prima facia evidence in legal terms and that is why the penaltys for false statements on a copyright are so severe 10yr imprisonment and up to a $350,000 fine!!!”
He is referring to copyright registration.
Now, let’s read again what he wrote today:
“As for an EER interview one on one with Patrick Lacy on the Joe Krein Special next week all I would say to that head in the sand scholar Lacy is for him to pop in any DVD and the first words seen are" Warning Infingements are investigated by the FBI and punishable by 5 yr imprisonment and a 250,000 fine not a paltry 2500 dollar fine for claiming Elvis as a co-author as he describes in his latest blog ‘The Copyright Office vs Paul Terry King’ on the net.”
He is now referring to copyright infringement. Submitting false information to the copyright office, which I believe King has done, is NOT copyright infringement.
Mr. King, where have I ever accused you of copyright infringement, or even mentioned copyright infringement? In your post last year you stated that, “penalties [sic] for false statements on a copyright are so severe…10yr imprisonment and up to a $350,000 fine!!!” You referred to, “penaltys [sic] for false statements on a copyright.” These are your words. You did NOT refer to copyright infringement.
Today, suddenly, you’ve changed your facts, and have again attacked my work based on your inability to understand this information, and your inability to understand the law.
I stand by my previous analyses.
