If a person has a manuscript copyrighted, can they then copyright an updated version of the same book lateron?

Question

I copyrighted a book that I wrote and want to copyright an updated version of the same work. The second version is grammatically correct and has minor changes. If I copyrighted the first one just under the title, do I have to copyright the second stating "revised edition" or "updated version" or can i just do the second one under the same title. Thanks

Answer 1

You didn't need to and you don't need to. You own the work as soon as you write it automatically. Purchasing a copyright tends to annoy publishers and editors because they feel you don't trust them. As long as you don't share your work with people and online, it is safe. If and when you sell it, as part of the standard author's contract, the publisher will arrange to copyright it in your name for you. Next time, save yourself the money. It is a sign of an amateur in the eyes of publishers. Do nothing. Just keep the corrected copy in your possession until you are ready to send out queries and a publisher or agent requests to see a copy.
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They're, Their, There - Three Different Words.

Careful or you may wind up in my next novel.

Pax - C

Answer 2

Yes, sort of.

The way it works is this: the first version is copyrighted, and its copyright runs for the standard period (what is it now, life of the creator plus 50 years?).

The revised version gets a new copyright, but only for the revisions.

For a real-world example, George Bernard Shaw's "Arms and the Man" was originally copyrighted in 1898 (I think--sometime around that year), and so now it's public domain. Shaw revised it later (I think 1928???) and the revisions are still protected by copyright. Anyone who wants to can buy the original version, edit it, re-write whole parts of it, and produce and present it without paying a penny of royalties (I did so, back around 1991, indulging myself by reducing Bluntschli's name to Blunt and making it contemporary--a nice touch since Serbia had just started being militarily aggressive). But if I'd resorted to any of the new portions of the revised version, I was at risk of prosecution.

BTW, this is how music publishers copyright the classics--they hire a notable musician to "edit" Bach or Handel or Mozart, and they copyright the "edition"--a musician could go ahead and re-edit the work to remove any edits and then it would be public domain, but few have access to the original manuscript nor inclination to do such laborious checking.

Answer 3

The previous poster is correct. Establish a chain of authorship for your work, and don't send it to disreputable firms. It's best to find an agent to represent you. Rarely there are cases (most often in Hollywood) where stories are lifted from unknown authors.