why does copyright regestration cost money?

Question

It's 45$ thats too much to pay for it, so y r they charging?

Answer 1

Yes, registration costs money. But you don't have to register for a copyright. Your material is protected by copyright law as soon as it is in any fixed form.

Answer 2

You don't have to file for a Copyright, your work is protected from the moment it is fixed in a tangible form, but it is the ONLY proof that will stand up in court. I've had many talks with screenwriters and Copyright attorneys, as well as reading the info on the Copyright site; the poor man's Copyright does not hold up.

Paying that money to register your work shows absolute proof of ownership, (unless the work is not Copyrightable, in which case you will be notified,) and will entitle you to money earned from your work if someone else uses it.

BTW, you cannot Copyright an idea. A Copyright only protects an expression of an idea in a fixed form, eg, a screenplay, a book, a song, etc.

http://www.copyright.gov/

http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ1.html

Answer 3

The fee goes towards the research the copyright office does make sure no one else has the same copyright. Think of it like this, you get a copyright on your intellectual property. A few years later someone else tries to steal your idea and get their own copyright on it. Wouldn't you want the copyright office to do the reasearch necessary to protect your copyright by rejecting the other claim?

Answer 4

The fee is part of an attempt to limit it to only serious inventors(those willing to pay the fee), and not just any quack with an idea.

Answer 5

Good question!!
Mail it to yourself, what crap wont hold up in court!