# Registering something with the copyright office -- where's a good how-to?



## aj47 (Mar 2, 2016)

I've been advised to register a specific work with the copyright office.  Anyone ever done this?  Anyone know how to do this, or where I can get the info on how?


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## InstituteMan (Mar 2, 2016)

It's easy enough, at least in theory. I suspect you have the link, but you can find information and resources at the Copyright Office website. 

The forms and process can be a little intimidating, but the worst that can happen is that the registration won't be effective (assuming you're not trying to claim something you didn't create as your work or something else fraudulent). You won't be fined or hauled off to jail if you fill out the wrong form or click the wrong button.

Bear in mind (as I know you are aware, Annie--this if for others reading) that you _own _a copyright as soon as you create a work. To _register _a copyright in the US is necessary to sue someone for infringing your rights, but you can do that at any time before you want to file the lawsuit (and, let's face it, you're not likely to ever need to file a copyright infringement lawsuit).

Good luck!


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## aj47 (Mar 2, 2016)

Just making sure to research this thoroughly.  I want to do what is right for me, not what someone tells me to do.  So, I need to know the details in order to make a wise choice.  

Somebody I kinda know had their work stolen--but in an academic context, not a commercial one.


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## dale (Mar 2, 2016)

do you really even have to do this anymore? in this day and age? it seems i heard you really didn't because
basically, anytime you put something out there, it's almost as if it's automatically copyrighted, legally speaking.


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## InstituteMan (Mar 2, 2016)

dale said:


> do you really even have to do this anymore? in this day and age? it seems i heard you really didn't because
> basically, anytime you put something out there, it's almost as if it's automatically copyrighted, legally speaking.



You do have a copyright as soon as you create the work, at least in the US. 

The US registration is just a formality to permit you to sue for infringement, but it's a formality that can be performed later. There are a few advantages to registering sooner, but only if you wind up suing later. 

I don't lose sleep over registering my copyrights.


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## Jack of all trades (Mar 2, 2016)

Registering with the copyright office should be done to officially date the creation as well as the author. With that backing, an author can sue for up to $150,000 per violation. Filing at the time of the lawsuit would be a waste of money. The process can take up to eight months from filing to certificate. The creation date is set to the filing date. And the copyright lasts the holder's life plus seventy years. If you choose not to file it might become public domain upon your death, but I'm not really sure about that.

If the holder is a business, the length of the copyright protection is different -- I believe longer.

PM me with specific questions.


P.S. There is no good "how-to", in my opinion.


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## Flint (Mar 3, 2016)

This came up in my discussion with Glyax and the comic in another thread. I found this random link:

https://www.legalzoom.com/articles/how-to-copyright-a-book

Going to the official website, there seems to be a very comprehensive FAQ. I'd be surprised if you could find a better 'how to' guide anywhere else:

http://copyright.gov/help/faq/index.html


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## Aquilo (Mar 3, 2016)

I have to admit, it's not something I've thought about, although I'm not sure if my publishers has... * winces*. 

Copyright theft is very real, and something we come across every couple of months in our genre. This is one of the more recent cases, where all the m/m author did was change the pairing from a straight romance couple, to gay romance couple, with the gay author, saying "it appears that I may have crossed the line and violated my own code of ethics" (the damage this author caused *throws in a few "For fuh... sake--seriously? You _may _have?"* :
..
Prolific romantic fiction writer exposed as a plagiarist (The Guardian)


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## Flint (Mar 3, 2016)

> McGraw writes: “Since she’d gotten the call from Imelda, the closest thing to a mother that Cassie had known since her own mother died when she was ten, Cassie had been in that mode. Once she decided she needed to come back, the memories she thought she buried ten years ago would not leave her alone. Thoughts of Luke Matthews would not leave her alone.”
> 
> Harner, whose Amazon profile says she has written more than 50 novels and sold almost half a million books, writes: “Since he’d gotten the call from Isabella – the closest thing to a mother that he’d known since his own mom died when he was nine – Brandon seemed to be stuck on a never ending sentimental highway. Once he decided he needed to come back, the memories he thought he buried long ago wouldn’t leave him alone. Thoughts of Joe Martinez won’t leave me alone.”



Woah, that's quite brazen lol. Also, very lazy and half-done. That last sentence of Harner's doesn't seem to fit with the rest of the paragraph, IMO.


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## InstituteMan (Mar 3, 2016)

I don't want to be a pedant, but I also don't want people to get confused. The bolded portion below isn't quite true, while the italicized portion is correct.



Jack of all trades said:


> *Registering with the copyright office should be done to officially date the creation as well as the author. *_With that backing, an author can sue for up to $150,000 per violation_*. Filing at the time of the lawsuit would be a waste of money. The process can take up to eight months from filing to certificate. The creation date is set to the filing date.* _And the copyright lasts the holder's life plus seventy years. _*If you choose not to file it might become public domain upon your death*_, but I'm not really sure about that.
> 
> If the holder is a business, the length of the copyright protection is different -- I believe longer._
> 
> ...



Registering a copyright does, indeed, date the creation of the work and the author, but that can be accomplished through other means--such as publishing the work or posting it on a really cool writer's website for critique. Registering a copyright before or shortly after publication can entitle the author to statutory damages (up to $150k) and attorneys' fees for a successful infringement suit. 

The creation date for a work is in no way set to the filing of the application to register the work. You actually give the creation date and publication date on the registration application form. It's perjury if you intentionally lie about the creation date, but that in fact means that it's important to tell the truth. Things may get a little goofy if you want to register something before the current US Copyright Act came into force (which I have never attempted to do), but I could register a copyright in a work created in 1979 right now, and the work still legally would have been created in 1979 even if the application to register the copyright wasn't filed until 2016.

Registering a copyright at the time of a lawsuit is only a waste of money if the underlying lawsuit is a waste of money. In the US (and most of the rest of the world differs in this regard), a copyright must be registered before a lawsuit can be brought. Technically, I suppose you can file a lawsuit without a copyright registration, but the defendant will just move to have it dismissed and win if there isn't a copyright registration attached as an exhibit to the initial complaint. While it does take several months to receive a registration certificate from the Copyright Office, the application for registration will suffice to file a lawsuit, so there's not substantial delay involved.

[Further aside on registration: there are a few old and/or esoteric types of work that are not protected by the US Copyright Act but that may be protected by something called "common law copyright." That's the sort of thing that legal geeks like me worry about. I mention it for the sake of completeness, not because it actually applies to anyone reading this.]

It's also very, very hard to accidentally put your work into the public domain. Failing to register your work does not undermine your copyright ownership before your death, and your heirs will still own your copyrights after your death. If you dig into the weeds, most of the freely usable material of the interwebs are technically protected by copyright, it's just that the copyright owner has granted a royalty free license to everyone everywhere to use the material.


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## Terry D (Mar 3, 2016)

Correct me if I'm wrong, IM, but doesn't registering a copyright with the Copyright Office only offer the ability to sue in federal court? As I understand it suits may be brought in state courts even without registration. It's been a while since I looked into that and I may be remembering crooked.


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## Jack of all trades (Mar 3, 2016)

InstituteMan said:


> I don't want to be a pedant, but I also don't want people to get confused. The bolded portion below isn't quite true, while the italicized portion is correct.
> 
> 
> 
> ...




OK. Someone who is willing to steal someone else's work is going to pause when faced with perjury. Hmmmmm. I can think of a couple famous people who have perjured themselves. One got away with it. The other is facing the music now and still claiming innocence in the face of multiple eyewitness accounts. So, yeah. Perjury will certainly deter those pesky thieves.



Terry D said:


> Correct me if I'm wrong, IM, but doesn't registering a copyright with the Copyright Office only offer the ability to sue in federal court? As I understand it suits may be brought in state courts even without registration. It's been a while since I looked into that and I may be remembering crooked.



I don't know, but it seems unlikely that the copyright would be inadmissible in state courts. Just saying.


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## InstituteMan (Mar 3, 2016)

Terry D said:


> Correct me if I'm wrong, IM, but doesn't registering a copyright with the Copyright Office only offer the ability to sue in federal court? As I understand it suits may be brought in state courts even without registration. It's been a while since I looked into that and I may be remembering crooked.



There's actually exclusive federal jurisdiction for all copyright infringement claims that involve subject matter covered by the Copyright Act. I've seen actual practicing attorneys who aren't intellectual property specialists try to file copyright infringement claims in state court, but that never works. It's also embarrassing to have your complaint dismissed on subject matter jurisdiction grounds.

There have been a couple of esoteric common law copyright cases that have received a bit of press over the past few years, and I believe those were in state courts. There are interesting principles involved in those cases, but no contemporary writer is likely to be enforcing a common law copyright.


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## Jack of all trades (Mar 4, 2016)

http://www.newmediarights.org/busin...fringement_if_your_work_not_federally_registe



> The main problem you will confront if you register after infringement is that you won't be able to get statutory damages (the high-level damages that make difficult-to-prove copyright cases worth fighting in court). That said, the statute provides a bit of leeway (3 months from the date of publication) when works can be registered even after infringement and statutory damages can still be recovered.




http://copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-infringement.html



> Expedited Registration And Recordation Under special circumstances, e.g., anticipated litigation, the expedited processing of an application for registration of a claim to copyright (“special handling”) may be requested. It is granted in a limited number of cases to those who have compelling reasons for this service, such as pending or potential litigation. If granted, the Copyright Office makes every attempt to process the application within 5-10 working days from the date of approval for this service by the Office. The fee for special handling of an application for registration is in addition to the registration filing fee.




According to Circular 4 (fees), the special handling fee today is $800. A single work registration fee is $35. Single works can be collections of poems or short stories, so you can get more bang for your buck by registering groups at a time.

Also from copyright.gov : 



> If you believe that your copyright has been infringed and you anticipate a legal dispute, if you have not yet done so, it is advisable that a registration be made as soon as possible in order to secure the opportunity for valuable remedies and litigation advantages available for timely registration under the Copyright Act. If a work is registered prior to infringement or within three months of publication, statutory damages will be available as an option for monetary relief, and the recovery for attorney’s fees may be available. In addition, a registration made before or within five years of publication of the work provides a presumption of the validity of the copyright and the facts stated within the registration certificate. A certificate of registration (or a rejection of an application for copyright) is a prerequisite for U.S. authors seeking to initiate a suit for copyright infringement in federal district court. See Circular 1 Copyright Basics, and sections 410, 411, and 412 of the copyright law.



This implies to me that after five years proving ownership is less guaranteed.

Ultimately, the decision to register a work is the author's. Each of us must decide what the risk-benefit ratio is for each case and proceed accordingly.


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## aj47 (Mar 4, 2016)

Jack of all trades said:


> According to Circular 4 (fees), the special handling fee today is $800. A single work registration fee is $35. Single works can be collections of poems or short stories, so you can get more bang for your buck by registering groups at a time.



That is factually incorrect.  http://copyright.gov/fls/sl04s.pdf has a little chart.  Here is a screenshot.


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## Jack of all trades (Mar 4, 2016)

astroannie said:


> That is factually incorrect.  http://copyright.gov/fls/sl04s.pdf has a little chart.  Here is a screenshot.
> 
> View attachment 12478



Interesting. Factually incorrect or not according to the written material, I know someone who registered a collection and said he paid $35. Hmmmm.


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## aj47 (Mar 4, 2016)

I'm sure people file the wrong forms all the time ... it happens in other agencies (I used to work in taxes).  Your friend's work is probably NOT registered even though s/he thinks it may be.  If there is never any reason to litigate, then it probably doesn't matter.


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## Jack of all trades (Mar 5, 2016)

astroannie said:


> I'm sure people file the wrong forms all the time ... it happens in other agencies (I used to work in taxes).  Your friend's work is probably NOT registered even though s/he thinks it may be.  If there is never any reason to litigate, then it probably doesn't matter.



Actually, my friend's work IS registered, as he showed me the certificate. 

Yes, mistakes happen. And my friend told me he was contacted by the copyright office for clarification, but he wasn't charged anything extra.


Edited to add : the fee for a collection is $55. I looked it up. So $20 more than I said earlier.


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