Copyrights

I supplied the lyrics and vocals to a rap song with a 3rd party sample being used in the beat. I obviously cannot publish this music myself without the clearance of the sample with the publishing company the original song belongs to. However, can someone publish my lyrics and vocals to the song without my consent if they're presently unpublished? Currently, I have submitted my lyrics to copyright.gov. In your answer, please notify me of any other forms that need to be filled out and submitted to give me full protection in the event someone can.

First, I live in Maryland but the trust of my deceased mothers resides in San Mateo County, California. My question is, who own the rights to the copyright of my deceased mothers book? She did not specify the 'copyright owner' in her will or trust. I have 3 brothers. Two of which, and myself, have a shared interest in my mothers estate. My mother kept the original of her book, a copy on a CD, locked away in her safe for 'safe keeping'. After she passed away, the digital copy was not there. My mother left 'her personal belongings' within her house, (as she believed to be furniture, household belongings...) to 3 teenage grandchildren. Now, 1 month ago, my daughter wrote to my brothers asking them for a copy of 'her grandmothers' book. She was told 'that there was not any to be had'. I have now received a letter from one of my brothers informing me that they have put the book on Amazon Kindle electronic book, for sale. They have done this with no prior authorization from myself or the trustee or the excuter of the estate. So my question is, who owns the rights to my mothers copyright book when not named in her trust? And do they need authorization from either myself or the excuter of the estate (whom was not made aware of this until the present). So who owns the rights and are they allowed to publish it without permission or offer it for sale without permission?

MY WEB NEWS PAGE WAS PLAGIARIZED BY A MEDIA COMPANY VERBATIM, INCLUDING MY CUSTOM DESIGNED BANNER. NO QUOTES OR CREDIT TO MY SITE, RATHER SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR OF THE SITE CONTAINING MY ARTICLE. ANY SUGGESTIONS?

Hi, As a teacher of a small elementary school I am wondering if under 'fair use' I may recite and act out HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS OR CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS as part of a Christmas concert at our school. Some of the songs from the books made into tv show specials would be sung as well. There would only be one performance for the parents and admission would be free. I would gladly purchase the rights to do so, but can not find them anywhere. Please advise.

I want to download, record or otherwise procure from the internet the following: available-without-fee, free-of-charge, live musical performances (from sources such as NPR-affiliate radio stations), edit those recordings, removing unwanted chit-chat, tuning, interviews, etc., and then offer those edited versions for free download, or for an 'editor's fee', on the internet, so that people may enjoy just the music without having to listen to the originally-included non-music portions of the program. Alternatively, I might establish a subscription-fee-based website where people can download, without any further specific fee beyond the monthly or annual membership access fee, any or all of those edited performances. I would always include information to direct the member back to the original source of the recordings (similar to the use of thumbnail images as ruled on in Kelly v. Arriba Soft Corporation), thereby enhancing public access to and use of those sites and other services or products that they may offer. I feel I am creating a trans formative work by offering a version which allows the public greater enjoyment and use of a copyrighted work. Again, the source material is already available for no charge whatsoever to anyone with internet access. Can I do any or all of these things without committing copyright infringement and, if not, what, in your opinion (acknowledging that you cannot recommend any illegal action), are the chances that any copyright holders would bother pursuing such an infraction against something they give away for free? Thank you.