I have a question and i hate to be this way but i must use a bunch of double talk which i generally find irritating..So i must say this is hypothetical..Say i just received a EP from a signed band that i use to open up for and had become friends with..As i am listening to the new material that has not been released yet i come across a rhythm track that sounds very familiar.. It is not exactly the same as jam that was made up several years in the past that was only recorded in a non professional setting as a work in progress..I'm sure that this other party had heard it and also probably even jammed it with us on occasion..
There tune is not a note for note duplicate but it is close enough that you can tell they are the same tune..If this happened would i have any rights?How would you feel about it..I must admit it would be rather flattering..But at the same time i don't feel friends should do this to each other..This was my music..
With all this said i have not been able to contact the hypothetical sender to find out the reason it was sent to me..It may have been sent to be like a what do you think of this ..Which i hope is the case..But i guess my question is do i have any rights to something that was never recorded and never written down?

If it was never copyrighted you have zero rights I am afraid. It seems that someone you know is either tipping there hat to you or rubbing it in your face. I guess your relationship with the person would answer that. It does not cost much at all to have your songs protected. A lesson for the future.

the thing about songs and music...the best i can tell....is the minute it is wrote down or recorded, by law it is copywrite (if thats a word) ...but its not all you have to do...you need to register it....so for your story.....the guy who recorded it has more rights then the one who wrote it at this stage.

for a friend to do that?...thats nothing...have a brother do it to you.