Recorded in the fall & winter of 1969,"Bridge Over Troubled Water" (no "S") was officially released to the public on January 26th,1970 w/ the title track already climbing the charts.
That song went to #1 in late Feb. 1970 and,through most of March was #1 for 6 weeks.
As for the copyrighting,don't forget TV shows & movies film in certain years but the "official" year & dates are when they hit the TV screens,moviehouses and record stores.