Did you know that your work is automatically covered by U.S. copyright law as soon as you set it in a fixed format?
According to Title 17 of the U.S. Code, all works are protected under copyright law from the moment they are placed in a fixed, tangible medium and can be perceived either directly (on paper, canvas, or other “solid” medium) or with the aid of a machine or device (computer, e-reader, or electronic music player). What does this mean? Essentially, you do not have to register your work with the Copyright Office to have some measure of protection. U.S. copyright law exists to help protect content creators and to help “promote innovation” in the sciences, technology, and creative arenas nationwide.
That said, you might want to formally register your work, as there are a number of benefits to this:
- It establishes a public record of the copyright claim.
- If registered within five years of creation, it provides “prima facie” evidence of the validity of the copyright and the facts stated in the certificate.
- If registered within three months of creation or prior to infringement of the work, it will allow for statutory damages to be awarded to the copyright owner in an infringement suit.
And, perhaps most importantly:
- Registration allows an infringement suit to be brought forward in court. In the coming year, individual creators will be able to take advantage of the newly minted Copyright Small Claims Board for suits with damages up to $30,000 instead of going to federal court.
You might be thinking, “Well, can’t I just mail my manuscript to myself via the U.S. Postal Service and therefore, as a government agency, I’m covered under copyright law?” Unfortunately, all that this will do is prove the date you mailed it to yourself. There are no legal benefits to sending a manuscript to yourself in the mail, as the U.S. Postal Service is not an agency of the U.S. Copyright Office.
Note that you also do not have to pre-register your new book with the U.S. Copyright Office before you publish it as you have some protections from the moment you put pen to paper or cursor to document program. You may certainly choose to do so if you feel that your work may be infringed before you publish, but it is not necessary. Pre-registration also does NOT replace the registration once you have published your work, so it will not save you any time later on.
Not only is the process of registering copyright easy, but it’s relatively inexpensive. For example, for a simple registration (let’s say a book, with one author or artist), the fee is just $45 for registering online on the U.S. Copyright Office’s online registration portal. The Copyright Office has also made it easier to register a group of unpublished works at one time, which is especially helpful if you have a batch of poems or titles that you haven’t yet published and want to protect.
Perhaps the best part of the online registration portal is that you can register works on your own without a lawyer. The Copyright Office has some very useful tutorials to show you just what to do, and if there are any questions regarding your application, a copyright examiner will reach out to you with clarifying questions and help you complete your registration.
Mary Jo (“MJ”) Courchesne is the owner and principal consultant of Gryphon Publishing Consulting. A publishing veteran with more than 20 years of experience in trade, academic, and direct-response publishing, she has spent nearly two decades specializing in licensing, subsidiary rights, and permissions. MJ is a frequent and polished presenter on licensing and copyright. When it comes to intellectual property, she firmly believes that everyone from authors to publishers to corporations should know their rights. To that end, MJ has instructed on copyright and permissions in the George Washington University’s Masters in Publishing program for the last 15 years. She currently serves on the Board of Experts for the National Association of Independent Writers and Editors and is a member of the Independent Book Publishers Association and the Society of Children’s Books Writers and Illustrators. MJ has also held memberships with other publishing organizations such as the American Society of Picture Professionals and Washington Publishers.
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