Show:
Copy Right in General
What does Copyright Protect
Privacy
Preregistration
Registering at Work
100
Copyright is a form of protection grounded in the U.S. Constitution and granted by law for original works of authorship fixed in a tangible medium of expression. Copyright covers both published and unpublished works.
What is copyright
100
Copyright, a form of intellectual property law, protects original works of authorship including literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic works, such as poetry, novels, movies, songs, computer software, and architecture. Copyright does not protect facts, ideas, systems, or methods of operation, although it may protect the way these things are expressed.
What does copyright protect?
100
Yes. The Copyright Office is required by law to maintain records of copyright registrations and to make them available for public inspection. Once a registration is completed and a claim has been cataloged, it becomes part of the public record. Individuals have always been able to come to the Copyright Office to inspect its public records. Information from registration records dating from January 1, 1978, is available on the Copyright Office’s
Can I see my copyright registration records?
100
Motion pictures Sound recordings Musical compositions Literary works being prepared for publication in book form Computer programs (which may include videogames) Advertising or marketing photographs
What classes of works are eligible for preregistration?
100
Floppy disks and other removal media such as Zip disks, except for CD-ROMs, are not acceptable. Therefore, the Copyright Office still generally requires a printed copy or audio recording of the work for deposit. However, if you register online using eCO eService, you may attach an electronic copy of your deposit. However, even if you register online, if the Library of Congress requires a hard-copy deposit of your work, you must send what the Library defines as the "best edition" of your work.
Can I submit my manuscript on a computer disk?
200
Copyright, a form of intellectual property law, protects original works of authorship including literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic works, such as poetry, novels, movies, songs, computer software, and architecture. Copyright does not protect facts, ideas, systems, or methods of operation, although it may protect the way these things are expressed.
What does copyright protect?
200
The original authorship appearing on a website may be protected by copyright. This includes writings, artwork, photographs, and other forms of authorship protected by copyright. Procedures for registering the contents of a website may be found in Circular 66, Copyright Registration for Online Works.
Can I copyright my website?
200
Records of copyright registrations and documents that are recorded in relationship to them can be used by the public to identify the author(s) and copyright owner(s) of a work. The public record may also provide information about an agent of the owner who can be contacted to license the registered work or to request permission to use it.
Will my registration records help provide contact information for someone interested in using my work?
200
A person who has preregistered a work must register the work within one month after the copyright owner becomes aware of infringement and no later than three months after first publication. If full registration is not made within the prescribed time period, a court must dismiss an action for copyright infringement that occurred before or within the first two months after first publication.
Is preregistration a substitute for registration?
200
The deposit requirement consists of the best edition of the CD-ROM package of any work, including the accompanying operating software, instruction manual, and a printed version, if included in the package.
Can I submit a CD-ROM of my work?
300
Copyright protects original works of authorship, while a patent protects inventions or discoveries. Ideas and discoveries are not protected by the copyright law, although the way in which they are expressed may be. A trademark protects words, phrases, symbols, or designs identifying the source of the goods or services of one party and distinguishing them from those of others.
How is a copyright different from a patent or a trademark?
300
Copyright law does not protect domain names. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), a nonprofit organization that has assumed the responsibility for domain name system management, administers the assigning of domain names through accredited registers.
Can I copyright my domain name?
300
When you register a claim to copyright in a work with the Copyright Office, you create a public record of your claim to copyright. This record cannot be removed from the public record once it has been entered. Some information you provide on your copyright registration will be available to the public and on the Internet. You may wish to consider whether you want to include a birth date, nickname, alias, or any other optional detail you consider to be sensitive on your application.
Can I remove information that I don't want publicized?
300
Preregistration is not a form of registration but is simply an indication of an intent to register a work once the work has been completed and/or published. The law requires that if you have preregistered a work, you are required to register the work within one month after the copyright owner becomes aware of infringement and no later than three months after first publication. If full registration is not made within the prescribed time period, a court must dismiss an action for copyright infringement that occurred before or within the first two months after first publication.
Will I need to make a regular registration after my work is completed?
300
Publication is not necessary for copyright protection.
Does my work have to be published to be protected?
400
Your work is under copyright protection the moment it is created and fixed in a tangible form that it is perceptible either directly or with the aid of a machine or device.
When is my work protected?
400
A mere listing of ingredients is not protected under copyright law. However, where a recipe or formula is accompanied by substantial literary expression in the form of an explanation or directions, or when there is a collection of recipes as in a cookbook, there may be a basis for copyright protection. Note that if you have secret ingredients to a recipe that you do not wish to be revealed, you should not submit your recipe for registration, because applications and deposit copies are public records. See FL 122, Recipes.
How do I protect my recipe?
400
When the Copyright Office completes your preregistration, we will send you an official notification email containing the information from your application, and the preregistration number and date. This same information will also appear in the Copyright Office permanent online catalog record of the preregistration. A certified copy of the official notification may be obtained from the Certifications and Documents Section of the Copyright Office.
Will I receive a certificate for my preregistration?
400
To preserve the legal benefits of preregistration, a person who has preregistered a work is required, to preserve the legal benefits of preregistration, to register the work within one month after the copyright owner becomes aware of infringement and no later than three months after first publication. If full registration is not made within the prescribed time period, a court must dismiss an action for copyright infringement that occurred before or within the first two months after first publication
When should I register my work if I have already preregistered it?
400
You may make a new claim in your work if the changes are substantial and creative, something more than just editorial changes or minor changes. This would qualify as a new derivative work. For instance, simply making spelling corrections throughout a work does not warrant a new registration, but adding an additional chapter would.
How much do I have to change in my own work to make a new claim of copyright?
500
No. In general, registration is voluntary. Copyright exists from the moment the work is created. You will have to register, however, if you wish to bring a lawsuit for infringement of a U.S. work.
Do you have to register with your office to be protected?
500
No. Names are not protected by copyright law. Some names may be protected under trademark law. Contact the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, TrademarkAssistanceCenter@uspto.gov or see Circular 34 "Copyright Protection Not Available for Names, Titles, or Short Phrases"
Can I copyright the name of my band?
500
Your description should be sufficient to reasonably identify the work but should consist of no more than 2,000 characters (approximately 330 words). It need not be detailed and need not include confidential information. This description will be made part of the online public record.
You ask for a description in the preregistration application. What should it include?
500
You must apply online; no paper application form is available. Only an application and fee are required; a copy or phonorecord of the work itself, or any finished part thereof, should not be submitted. Instead, the applicant must give as full a description of the work as possible in the online application.
How do I preregister?
500
Please be aware that when you register your claim to a copyright in a work with the U.S. Copyright Office, you are making a public record. All the information you provide on your copyright registration is available to the public and will be available on the Internet.
Will my personal information be available to the public?