How do you copyright a book?

Question

I'm writing a book and hoping that the publishers will want to print it. I'm scared of them copying it though. I really need to know how to get my book copyrighted.

Answer 1

Go to the Library of Congress website and it will tell you how.

Answer 2

According to current copyright law, a (c) is NOT required for any work created after 1989, but it IS suggested. if the work does become contested, then you need to register it. However, applying for a copyright is never a bad idea, just a little unnecessary. Provably publishing your book will solidify it as your own copyrighted property. Do you know the EASIEST way to do this?? I'll tell you... According to the law, any piece of information sent by EMAIL is considered published. Even casual greetings are published material, so always be careful what you say in an email because it can be used against you. This means that if you email yourself a copy of your own book, it is published. You dont have to send it through postage. If anybody tries to steal your book, your email will be proof in court that it is YOUR published material and nobody can contest it.

Answer 3

The correct answer is you dont. Publishers and agents consider that unprofessional and amateur. You own the work from the moment you write it. When your book is accepted by a publisher, they will copyright it for you. It will be a part of your contract. Try buying a copy of Writers Market (even a used one is helpful) and read a standard author's contract. Sending a copyrighted manuscript to a publisher or agent is like a guaranteed rejection. It shows you dont know about the publishing business.

Answer 4

On your draft you just print at the beginning "copyright of John Smith January 2007" They won't copy it anyhow. Publishers get hundreds of books offered to them and most don't suit the outlets they have for them

Answer 5

Contact Library of Congress, they will send you appropriate forms. You have to have a copy that at least is spiral bound to give them. The fee is anywhere from $10 to $20. Expect at least 3 months for the whole process.
A lawyer will cost you anywhere from $500 to $1000. You choose.
Good luck with your book!

Answer 6

Once you've written it, it is already copyrighted by you as intellectual property. However, if you want it to be foolproof or documented, just register it. If you are American, just take a look at this: http://www.copyright.gov/ It explains everything for you!

Answer 7

http://www.copyright.gov or
http://www.patent.gov.uk/copy

These sites will give you all the info you need. I needed to copyright my music and this is where i did it.

Hope this helps.

Answer 8

Go here
http://www.wga.org/

Answer 9

"I recommend registering the copyright on your book -- finished or not -- before you submit it to a publisher. It's just cheap ($45) insurance that you work won't be used without your permission. Certainly, major publishers are generally quite ethical and wouldn't dream of publishing your work without your permission, but why take the chance?

Registering the copyright for a book (or portion of one) is quite simple: just download the PDF of Short Form TX and fill out the one-page form. If you've co-written the book or the manuscript incorporates uses
some previously published material, you'll need to use the longer version of Form TX instead. (Don't worry: it's only two pages.)

Both versions of form TX are straightforward, with clear instructions. If you haven't sent the book to a publisher yet, write "unpublished" in space 4 of Short Form TX. If you have sent it to a publisher, write the date that you mailed it in that space. (To the Copyright Office, "published" simply means distributed, not necessarily printed in a book and sold.) In space 5, "Type of Authorship", you define exactly what you have created: if the book is text only, write "text" in space 5; if it also includes diagrams or photographs that you created, write "text and diagrams" or "text and photographs".

Now, print out your manuscript. Print one copy if you are registering it as unpublished, or two copies if you're registering it as published. Send the completed and signed form, the printouts, plus a check or postal money order for $45 made out to "Register of Copyrights", to the Copyright Office at the address on the form.

It will take several weeks or months before you receive confirmation of your registration back from the Copyright Office. You don't need to wait for that confirmation before distributing your book to publishers: the copyright registration date will be retroactive to the date the Copyright Office receives your registration packet.

Thanks for that helpful answer, Kevin. Again, if you need more information about the strange world of copyright and how to ensure that your intellectual property is protected under the law, you might well invest in a copy of Kevin's Copyright Your Web Site."

and

On Copyright

This article comes with its own warning, which
is simply a reminder of what Mark Twain
observed in the late 19th century: “Only one
thing is impossible for God – to find any sense
in any copyright law on the planet. Whenever a
copyright law is to be made or altered, then the
idiots assemble.”
Well, even Twain occasionally misspoke. It
must be conceded that the Founders who wrote
the Constitution of the United States were
hardly “idiots.” They chose, after all, to include
a provision for copyright protection directly into
that august document.
Copyright Clearance Center, Inc. 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923 ● 800-982-3887, ext. 2420 ● beyondthebook.com l

*This image (reference number LC-USZ62-5513) is in the public domain in the United States and possibly elsewhere. This is because its first publication was in the United States prior to January 1, 1923, or because its copyright expired in the U.S.

“The Congress shall have the power,” states
Article I, Section 8, Clause 8, “... to promote the
progress of science and useful arts, by securing for
limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries.”

At the very first session of Congress, legislators passed the Copyright Act of 1790, which provided for a copyright protection term of 14 years, renewable for another 14.
Times change, and the copyright laws have
regularly done likewise. Today, copyright
protects a work for the lifetime of its “author”
plus seventy years, and registration of that
copyright in the U.S. Copyright Office (itself an
arm of the Library of Congress) opens the door
to the courts for the copyright holder to sue an
infringer. If the work was “made for hire,” then
the employer of the writer is considered the
“author” and a corporate “author” receives a
copyright term of 95 years.
In other words, a hit song written in 2003 by a
self-employed 20-year-old will remain
protected by copyright in the United States until
2128 (if the writer lives as long as 75 years).
However, if that writer was an employee, then
his employer’s copyright will expire in 2098 no
matter when the writer expired.
For all types of writers, the basics of copyright
law are always worth bearing in mind. This is
true especially if the writer is a freelance
journalist or columnist and dreams of
syndication or publishing a collection of his or
her work.

What follows, then, is a round-up of ten tips for U.S. © consciousness:

1. From the moment any expression is
fixed in form (written word and painted
canvas are two traditional examples, but
an electronic word processing file is
considered “fixed” too), that work is
immediately and automatically
protected by copyright under U.S. and
foreign law.
2. To be able to bring a suit against an
infringer, however, does require having
registered the copyright with the U.S.
Copyright Office (www.copyright.gov ),
for which a $45 fee is currently charged.
Please note that, if you are a self-
employed freelance journalist, the
copyright registration on the newspaper
in which the article is published will
likely not protect your own work.
3. As an incentive for registering copyright,
the law provides that attorney’s fees as
well as statutory damages (which, in
cases where “actual damages” are too
hard to prove, can rise as high as
$150,000 per infringement) may be paid
in any successful court action for
infringement if the registration occurred
before the infringement.
4. A person’s name or the name of a
product “brand” cannot be protected by
copyright law, although these may be
protected by trademark law. For more
information, contact the U.S. Patent &
Trademark Office (www.uspto.gov)
5. Copyright ownership is not limited
solely to the creators of works. For
example, a writer may sign either a
“Work For Hire” contract or an “All
Rights” contract with a publisher or
syndicate. In the first case, the
employer is the “author” for purposes of
copyright right from the beginning and
the writer has no rights; in the latter, the
original author initially holds copyright
rights and transfers them to another
person (but matters like the length of
copyright term continue to be measured
by the original author’s life).
6. On the other hand, a publisher or
syndicate does not automatically acquire
copyright simply by publishing material.
Unless there is a signed contract to the
contrary, the original author retains
copyright ownership and the publisher
or syndicate acquires only a license.
7. A copyright holder may license specific
forms of re-use to a variety of publishers
or others. Such re-uses may include film
rights, foreign language rights, and
merchandising rights (e.g. action figures
in the shape of a comic strip character).
8. Contrary to the opinion of most
teenagers, a Web site (in whole or in
part) is almost always protected by
copyright. This applies not only to
text, but also to photos and
illustrations.
For all types of writers, the basics of
copyright law are always worth bearing
in mind.
9. Unlike Web content, however, a
domain name (e.g. www.beyondthebook.com) is not subject to copyright law. The Internet
Corporation for Assigned Names and
Numbers (ICANN) is responsible for
overseeing the domain name system.
Domain names can be registered for a
fee with a variety of designated
vendors, which are listed at
www.icann.org. In addition, the
ICANN Web site provides information
about resolving domain name
disputes.
10. When copyright issues arise between
writers and publishers, a variety of
writer’s organizations may be able to
provide assistance through their
contract dispute resolutions programs,
including the American Society of
Journalists and Authors
(www.asja.org); the National Writers
Union (www.nwu.org); and the
Authors Guild (www.authorguild.org).

Finally, because the law can change almost as
often as Madonna’s hair color, and is open to
nearly as much interpretation as a Florida
presidential election ballot, trust THIS advice
most: always verify the currency and accuracy
of any amateur copyright advice that you may
receive with your editor, agent or attorney."