Copyrighting a Book in Four Effortless Stages [Approved by Legal Professionals]
Registering a copyright for a book in the United States involves four key steps: creating copyright rights, registering a copyright claim, including a copyright notice, and formatting your copyright page.
- Create copyright rights automatically Copyright protection arises immediately when your book is fixed in a tangible form, such as written or typed on paper or digital format. No registration is needed for copyright to exist [1][3][4].
- Register a copyright claim with the US Copyright Office
- Visit the Electronic Copyright Office (eCO) website.
- Create or log in to your account.
- Select “Standard Application” under “Register a Work” and start a new registration for a literary work.
- Complete the application with details about your book.
- Pay the filing fee (approximately $55 electronic, $85 for paper).
- Submit a copy (deposit) of your book electronically or physically by mail. Registering makes ownership legally enforceable in court and provides additional legal benefits beyond automatic protection [1].
- Include a copyright notice in your book Although not required, you should add a copyright notice on the copyright page within your book, typically including the © symbol, the year of first publication, and your name. This helps inform the public and strengthens your claim [1][3].
- Format your copyright page properly The copyright page usually contains the copyright notice, registration number (if registered), year, and author or rights holder name, along with any disclaimers or rights statements [1].
To facilitate the formatting process, programs like Atticus can help automatically format a copyright page for a book.
If multiple applications are submitted together, each application requires repeating these steps to upload an electronic copy of the work(s). The address for copyright registrations for non-play literary works is: Library of Congress, Copyright Office-TX101 Independence Avenue, SE, Washington, DC 20559-6000.
Physical copies of a book must be sent to the US Copyright Office if the book was published in or outside of the US before the copyright claim was submitted, and the book was published in a physical form. A window with fields for browsing and selecting files to be uploaded appears when the green "Select files to upload" button is clicked.
Registering a copyright with the United States Copyright Office creates a public record of ownership and gives stronger legal protections, including the right to seek statutory damages and attorney's fees if rights are infringed upon in court. It gives the copyright holder exclusive authority to reproduce, publish, perform, display, or distribute their work and to authorize others to do the same.
It is recommended to register a copyright when the book's final draft is finished and ready for publication, but before the publishing process begins. The copyright notice can be placed in any of the following locations in a book: title page, immediately after the title page, either side of the front cover, either side of the back cover, the first page of the story proper, the last page of the story proper, anywhere between the title page and the first page of the story proper, or anywhere between the last page of the story proper and the back page.
[1] U.S. Copyright Office. (n.d.). Registering a Copyright. Retrieved from https://www.copyright.gov/registration/ [3] U.S. Copyright Office. (n.d.). What Can I Copyright? Retrieved from https://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-what-can-i-copyright.html [4] U.S. Copyright Office. (n.d.). What is Copyright? Retrieved from https://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-what-is-copyright.html
- A book publisher, such as Rocket, may choose to register a copyright claim with the US Copyright Office, which not only creates a public record of ownership but also provides stronger legal protections for the work, including the right to seek statutory damages and attorney's fees in case of infringement.
- In addition to registering a copyright, publishers can also implement effective book marketing strategies, tailoring their approach to various genres like science, health-and-wellness, and mental-health, to reach a wider audience and maximize sales potential.
