As soon as it is "fixed in a tangible medium, perceptible to human eye or by machine reader or device"
No, song covers are not copyright free. Covering a song without permission from the original copyright holder can lead to legal issues.
That would be copyright infringement if the original song was protected.
You can only copyright a song if you are the song's author. You can't copyright someone else's song. Although the author can sell you their copyright.
Each song has its own copyright year.
© = Copyright
Singing a song in private for personal enjoyment is not considered copyright infringement. However, performing a song in public or recording and distributing it without permission from the copyright holder may be considered infringement.
The song "Heigh-Ho" from Disney's "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" is still under copyright protection. The film was released in 1937, and while the original film's copyright may expire in 2033, the song’s specific arrangements and recordings are protected by copyright law. Therefore, using the song without permission could infringe on copyright rights.
It is probably copyright infringement. There are exceptions, though.
The only way to be certain is to contact the copyright holder yourself.
If you are not the composer of the song then you can NEVER take the copyright as yours; you would have to purchase it from the copyright owners. Also, when the copyright expires, 50 or more years after the author's death (or after publication, depending upon circumstances and national laws) it is no longer copyrighted at all and nobody can possibly own the copyright.
Short phrases like song titles cannot be protected by copyright.
You can't. It is a right that the writer owns. You can offer to buy the copyright.