How to Copyright a Book

• by Darcy Logan

Introduction

• 

  (Creative Commons photo by Dinah Sanders)
  Copyright is a form of legal protection provided by most countries that protects original works of authorship. Registering your book with the United States Copyright Office will protect your copyright in most countries.¹ If you want to copyright your book, this page will guide you through the process. Luckily, it is much easier to copyright a book than it is to write one.

• There are three ways that you can register your book.
  1. You can fill out the paperwork online, print it out and mail everything in. This is covered under Using the Electronic Forms
  2. You can request the paperwork from the Copyright Office, fill them out and mail everything in. This is covered under Using the Fill-In Forms CO or Paper Forms
  3. You can fill out and submit the application electronically and then choose to submit your manuscript electronically or through the mail. This is covered under Using the Fill-In Forms CO or Paper Forms

When Do You Need to Register Your Book?

• There are a number of reasons you might want to register your book with the U.S. Copyright Office including:
  1. It gives you a public record of when your book was created.¹
  2. Registered works can be eligible for statutory damages and/or attorney's fees if someone violates your copyright and you take them to court.¹
  3. Registration is considered prima facie evidence in a court of law (which roughly means that it is considered a fact without needing further evidence).¹

• You do not need to copyright your book before submitting it to an editor or publisher. Many inexperienced writers feel this is necessary because either someone will steal the manuscript or the idea. Here's why you don't have to worry about this happening:
  1. Your work is protected by copyright laws the moment it is created.¹
  2. Legitimate editors and publishers have no need to do this.²
  3. Paying the author is one of the cheapest things a publisher does.³
  4. You cannot copyright ideas.⁴

Using the Fill-In Forms CO or Paper Forms

• 

  (Creative Commons photo by Ioan Sameli)
  If you wish to fill out the forms online (which does not require registration) you can providing you have access to the Internet, a printer and have the latest Adobe Acrobat Reader program installed. Simply go to Form CO.⁵ You cannot print this form out and fill it out by hand.⁶ This section will then walk you through the paperwork step-by-step.

• If you want to request paper forms for registration, you can do so by going to Copyright Forms by Mail⁷ You cannot request supplemental forms online and you will have to contact the Copyright Office to get them.^{8 9} You typically need supplemental forms if you have multiple authors or claimants for the same book. This section will then walk you through the paperwork step-by-step (but was written using Form CO and not the paper forms).

Section 1 - Work Being Registered

• In this section, you will give the basic information about your book. Only steps 1a, 1b and 1e are required. Steps 1f through 1k can be skipped if the book is unpublished.⁶ According to the U.S. Copyright Office, a book can be considered "published" if it was distributed publicly online.¹⁰ If you are unsure if this applies to your book, contact the U.S. Copyright Office.⁹.

• 1a Type of work being registered: Check "Literary work."

• 1b Title of work: Write the title of the book.
  1. You can list only one title in each box.
  2. When filling out using the online PDF file, click the "additional title" button to add more boxes.
  3. If filling out a paper document, you will need to request continuation sheets.
  4. Use standard title capitalization. Standard title capitalization means that all words except for articles, conjunctions and most prepositions are capitalized.
  5. If there is no title, give it an identifying phrase (or working title) or simply write "untitled."⁶

• 1c Serial issue: Typically will not apply to books.⁶

• 1d Previous or alternative title: Write any titles the book had been previously published or registered under.

• 1e Year of completion: Write the year in which this version of the book was completed.
  1. This year must be before date listed in 1f.
  2. If this is a revised version, write the date of the revised version, not the original version, was completed.⁶

• 1f Date of publication: Write the date the book was first published as mm/dd/yyyy. The date must be before the date of the application.⁶

• 1g ISBN: Write the International Standard Book Number (ISBN) without dashes.
  1. ISBN numbers are not assigned by the Copyright Office.⁶
  2. You can find out more information on how to obtain a ISBN number on Mahalo's How to Self-Publish Your Book or at Bowker.¹¹

• 1h Nation of publication: Check "United States" unless your book was previously published in another country that is a treaty party (which includes most countries).⁶ For more information, check out International Copyright Relations of the United States¹²

• 1i Published as a contribution in a larger work: If the book was published as part of a larger work, write the title of the larger work in the blank. For example, Stephen King's The Mist was previously published as part of Skeleton Crew.¹³

• 1j If line 1i above names a serial issue: This will rarely apply to books.

• 1k If work was preregistered: If you preregistered the book, write the preregistration number here.

Section 2 - Author Information

• Step 2a or 2b is required as is step 2e (if author is deceased) and 2h. All other sections are optional. This information will become part of the online public records produced by the Copyright Office and cannot be removed later.⁶

• Fill out either line 2a or 2b, but do not complete both. You will usually complete 2a, unless the book is a work for hire. For more information about work for hire, check out Circular 9.¹⁴
  • 2a Personal name: Write your name. If the work is anonymous, write "anonymous" in the first name blank.
  • 2b Organization name: The name of the corporation or organization who hired the work. This article is an example of a "work for hire" since Mahalo paid the author for it. Mahalo, not the author, owns the copyright to this article.

• 2c Doing business as: If you do business under another name, write it here.

• 2d Year of Birth: The year the author was born. This is optional but can be helpful in case another author has the same name.⁶

• 2e Year of death: The year the author died is required if author is deceased.

• 2f Citizenship/domicile Check either "Citizenship" or "Domicile" (the place where the author has a permanent residence) and either "United States" or "Other."¹⁵ If you check other, you will need to write in the country.

• 2g Author's contribution is: Check either "Made for Hire," "Pseudonymous" or "Anonymous."
  1. Made for hire: Made for hire (also known as work for hire) means that the work was created by an employee of a company for that company or was commissioned by that company. For more information, check out Circular 9.¹⁴
  2. Pseudonymous A pseudonym is a fictitious alternative to a person's legal name. J.K. Rowling used the pseudonym "Newt Scamander" when she published the book Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.¹⁶ If she was filling in this form, she would have written "J.K. Rowling" in line 2a and then "Newt Scamander" in 2g. If she didn't want anyone to know she wrote the book, she could also have opted to write "anonymous" in the first name blank in 2a.
  3. Anonymous: Check this box only if no natural person is named as the author and the work is not made for hire. Make sure that you also write "anonymous" in step 2a.⁶

• 2h This author created:
  1. In almost all cases, you will want to check "text." Text is any series of words or phrases.¹⁵
  2. If you revised, added, or deleted preexisting text, check "editing."¹⁵
  3. If the book is a translated from another language, check "translation."¹⁵
  4. A compilation is a work that is formed with preexisting materials or data arranged in such a way that makes it unique. It must have some original work to be copyrightable.¹⁵

• Additional authors:
  1. If filing out this form online, you will notice an "Additional authors" button at the bottom of page 2. If there is more than one author for your book, click it and an additional section 2 will appear. Fill in the steps 2a-2h as necessary for each additional author.
  2. If you are filling out a paper application, you will need to request continuation sheets from the Copyright office. These forms are not available online and you will have to contact the Copyright Office to get them.^{8 9}

Section 3 - Copyright Claimant Information

• 

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  The claimant can be the author or someone to whom the copyright has been legally transferred. A person who is not the original author can only be named as a claimant if they own all rights and acquired them either in writing or by law.¹⁷ Only step 3a or 3b is required in this section. All other sections are optional. This information will become part of the online public records produced by the Copyright Office and cannot be removed later.⁶

• As in Section 2, you will need to fill out either 3a or 3b.
  • 3a Personal name: Write in the full name of the owner. This may be the author or someone to whom copyright is being transfered to.
  • 3b Organization name: If the copyright claimant is an organization, fill it in here.

• 3c Doing business as: If you do business under another name, write it here.

• 3d Address, email, and phone: Write in you complete address, email and phone number. All except your email address and phone number will become part of public record (unless included in Section 5).

• 3e Copyright ownership acquired by: If you are not the original author of the book, you will need to explain how you obtained the copyright for the book.⁶
  1. Check "written agreement" if it was transferred to you by a contract or the work was done for hire. For more information about work for hire, check out Circular 9.¹⁴
  2. Check "will or inheritance" only if the author is deceased.
  3. If neither of these apply, check "other" and briefly explain how copyright was obtained.

• Additional claimant:
  1. If filing out this form online, you will notice an "Additional claimant" button at the bottom of page containing section 3. If there is more than one claimant for your book, click it and an additional section 3 will appear. Fill in the steps 3a-3e as necessary for each additional author.
  2. If you are filling out a paper application, you will need to request continuation sheets from the Copyright office. These forms are not available online and you will have to contact the Copyright Office to get them.^{8 9}

Section 4 - Limitation of Copyright Claim

• Skip this section unless your book contains or is based on previously registered or published material, material in the public domain, or material you do not own. You can only claim copyright on new material.⁶ A couple examples of why you may need to use this section are listed below.

1. You are registering an English translation of an novel previously published in a foreign language. In that case:
   1. Click "Text" in step 4a.
   2. Click "Other" in step 4c.
   3. Write "English Translation" in the box.
2. You are registering the published edition of a work that was registered before but not published:
   1. Click "Other" in step 4a.
   2. Type in "First publication of work registered as unpublished."
   3. Write the the registration number and year it was registered in step 4b.
   4. Skip step 4c.

• You can find additional examples online.¹⁸

Section 5 - Rights and Permissions

• This section is about the person (or company) that should be contacted if someone wants permission to use this work.⁶ If it is the same person listed in Section 3, all you need to do is check the box. Any information listed here will become part of public records produced by the Copyright Office and cannot be removed.

Section 6 - Correspondence Contact

• This section is about the person (or company) that should be contacted if the Copyright Office has questions about the application.⁶ You can check a box if the information the same person listed in Section 3 or the person listed in Section 5. Information listed in this section will not become part of the public record.

Section 7 - Mail Certificate To

• This section should list where you want the registration certificate sent. If it is the same as either Section 3, Section 5 or Section 6 you will simply need to check the correct box. Information listed in this section will not become part of the public record.

Section 8 - Certification

• Most of this section will need to be filled out after you have printed it (if you are working with the online PDF file). Only steps 8a, 8b and 8c are required.⁶

• 8a Handwritten signature: Don't forget to sign the application.
• 8b Printed name: Enter the name of the person who will sign the form.
• 8c Date signed: This date must be after the date of publication listed in Section 1
• 8d Deposit account: Leave this line blank.
• 8e Applicant's internal tracking number: If you have an internal tracking number you can list it here.

Sending the Application

• Once you have completed the application you will need to send it, the filing fee, and one or two copies of your work to the same envelope or package to the U.S. Copyright Office. You can find the address either on the Form CO Instructions or on their website.^{6 6}

Using the Electronic Forms

• 

  (Creative Commons photo by Jayel Aheram)
  If you want to submit your copyright registration electronically, you will need access to a computer, the Internet and either a credit card, a debit card or a bank account.

1. Start by reading the security and privacy notice and then clicking the "Continue" button at the bottom of the screen.¹⁹
2. You will then be taken to a screen where you can either log in or register.
3. Take the time to fill out your address in this registration form because it will speed things up later on.
4. When you are finished, you will be taken to the main screen.

Starting the Registration Process

1. Before starting the registration process make sure that you:
   1. Disable your browser's pop-up blockers.
   2. If you use Firefox 2.0, make sure your tab setting is set to "New pages should be opened in: a new window."
2. Then, click on "Register a New Claim" on the right hand side of the page.
   1. You will notice grayish-blue buttons in the top left area of the screen. You will need to click these in order to continue in each step.
   2. It appears like you would want to click "Step 1: Complete an application" but this will only take you to information about the application process.
3. Click the "Start Registration" button.

• Note: If you are unsure of what step you are on, look to the right of the screen. The steps are listed and the one you are currently on is highlighted in red.

Type of Work

1. Select "Literary Work" in the drop down menu.
   1. This button is located underneath the links for the items.
   2. Clicking the links will provide you with more information about each type of work.
2. Click the "Next" button.

Titles

1. Click "New" button.
2. Select "Title of Work Being Registered." If there is no title, give it an identifying phrase (or working title) or simply write "untitled."
3. Type in the title of your book.
4. Click the "Save" button.

• If this is part of a larger work, has a previous or alternative title or is part of a series, repeat steps 1-4 for the title of each of these works. For example, Stephen King's The Mist was previously published as part of Skeleton Crew.¹³ Otherwise, click the "Next" button.

Publication / Completion

• In the drop down menu, select "yes" if the book has been published before or "no" if it unpublished. According to the U.S. Copyright Office, a book can be considered "published" if it was distributed publicly online.¹⁰ If you are unsure if this applies to your book, contact the U.S. Copyright Office.⁹.

• If no, you will only need to fill out these sections:
  • Year of Completion (Year of Creation): This is the year that your book was created.
    1. If this is a revised version, write the date of the revised version, not the original version, was completed.⁶
    2. This date is required.
  • Preregistration Number: You will usually not preregister your book. For information, check out Preregistration.²⁰

• If yes, you will need to fill out these sections (in addition to the ones listed above):
  • Nation of First Publication: Check "United States" unless your book was previously published in another country that is a treaty party (which includes most countries).⁶ For more information, check out International Copyright Relations of the United States¹²

• • Date of First Publication: This year must be the same or after the year of completion.

• • International Standard Number Type: Choose ISBN (ISRC is for recordings and ISSN is for periodicals) which stands for International Standard Book Number.

• • International Standard Number: Write the International Standard Book Number (ISBN) without dashes.
    1. ISBN numbers are not assigned by the Copyright Office.⁶
    2. You can find out more information on how to obtain a ISBN number on Mahalo's How to Self-Publish Your Book or at Bowker.¹¹

• Click the "Next" button to move on to the next screen.

Authors

• In this section, you will enter in information about the author of the book. If the information is the same as what you entered when you registered, click the "Add Me" button on the right. You will get to review this information and make changes before submitting it. Otherwise, click the "New" button.

• You will be taken to a screen where you need to fill out the following information:
  

  (Creative Commons photo by The Consumerist)

• • The name of the individual author or the organization.
    1. Unless the book was a work for hire, you will want to fill in the author's name. If you don't know what a work for hire is, check out Circular 9.¹⁴
    2. If the book is a work for hire, fill in the name of the corporation or organization who hired the work under "organization." This article is an example of a "work for hire" since Mahalo paid the author for it. Mahalo, not the author, owns the copyright to it.
    3. If the work is anonymous or the author is using a pseudonym and doesn't want to be named, write in "anonymous" in the last name blank or leave the name field blank.¹⁵

• • Is this author's contribution a work made for hire?: Select yes or no.

• • Citizenship: List the country the author has citizenship. You must fill in either "citizenship" or "domicile." You can fill in both.

• • Domicile: List the country the author has a permanent residence.¹⁵ You must fill in either "citizenship" or "domicile." You can fill in both.

• • Doing Business as: If you do business under another name or have a company name, write it here.

• • Year of Birth: This is optional but can be helpful in case another author has the same name.⁶

• • Year of Death: The year the author died is required if author is deceased.

• • Pseudonymous: If you or the author is using a pseudonym, check the box and enter in the name.
    1. A pseudonym is a fictitious alternative to a person's legal name.
    2. J.K. Rowling used the pseudonym "Newt Scamander" when she published the book Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.¹⁶ If she was filling in this form, she would have written "J.K. Rowling" under individual author and then "Newt Scamander" here. If she didn't want anyone to know she wrote the book, she could also have opted to write "anonymous" in the last name blank.

• • Anonymous: Check this box only if no natural person is named as the author and the work is not made for hire. You may check the anonymous box and still enter in a name under "individual author."¹⁵

• Once you have finished with this part, click the "Save" button. You will then be taken to another page where you list the literary authorship of the book.
  1. Click "text" if the book is something you wrote. Text is defined as "any series of words or phrases".¹⁵
  2. If you revised, added, or deleted preexisting text, check "editing."¹⁵
  3. If the book is a translated from another language, check "translation."¹⁵
  4. A compilation is a work that is formed with preexisting materials or data arranged in such a way that makes it unique. It must have some original work to be copyrightable.¹⁵

• When you are finished, click the "Save" button. Repeat this step for any additional authors of the book. When you are finished, click the "Next" button to move on to the next section.

Claimants

• This section is very similar to the last section, except it is referring to the person who is claiming the copyright. The claimant can be the author or someone to whom the copyright has been legally transferred. A person who is not the original author can only be named as a claimant if they own all rights and acquired them either in writing or by law.¹⁷ This information will become part of the online public records produced by the Copyright Office and cannot be removed later.⁶

• Fill out this section for each individual who is claiming copyrights to the book. If you are not the original author of the book, you will need to explain how you obtained the copyright for the book.⁶

• When you are finished, click the "next" button.

Limitation of Claim

• Skip this section unless your book contains or is based on previously registered or published material, material in the public domain, or material you do not own. You can only claim copyright on new material.⁶ Examples of why you may need to use this section are listed above in Limitation of Copyright Claim.

Rights & Permissions

• This section is about the person (or company) that should be contacted if someone wants permission to use this work.⁶ If the information is the same as what you entered when you registered, click the "Add Me" button on the right. This section is optional. If you list your email or phone number in this section, it will become part of the public record.

Correspondent

• 

  (Creative Commons photo by Timothy Vollmer)
  This section is about the person (or company) that should be contacted if the Copyright Office has questions about the application.⁶ You must fill in a name, address and email address into this section. If the information is the same as what you entered when you registered, click the "Add Me" button on the right.

Mail Certificate

• This section should list where you want the registration certificate sent. Information listed in this section will not become part of the public record. If the information is the same as what you entered when you registered, click the "Add Me" button on the right.

Special Handling

• This section should only be filled out if you are requesting special handling of your case. In most cases, you will not need to fill out this section. To find out more information about special handling, check out Special Handling.²¹

Certification

• In this section you will need to check the box certifying that you are the author or can claim the copyright, fill in your name and decide how you will submit your work. You have two choices: electronically or through the mail.
  1. Electronic copies may be submitted for unpublished works and works previously published only in electronic form only.²²
  2. Check out Completing the Application for more information on submitting formats.

Completing the Application

• When you are finished, you will be given the opportunity to review the application and make any changes necessary. If you are satisfied, check the "Add to Cart" button. Then click on the "Pay" button located in the upper right hand corner of the screen.

• You will be taken to a new screen where you will see your application and costs. You will see two pay buttons at the top of the screen. One says "Pay-Deposit Acct" and the other says "Pay-Credit Card / ACH." Click on "Pay-Credit Card / ACH" to pay via credit card, debit card, or check. These are processed through to the U.S. Government's PAY.GOV system.
  • For information on how to set up a deposit account, go to How to Open and Maintain a Copyright Office Deposit Account.²³

• Once you have paid, you can submit your work. You will a list on the screen which gives the case number and title of your book along with two options either "Send by Mail" or "Upload Deposit."

• If you are shipping by mail, click on "Send by Mail" and print out the shipping label (which will show up at the bottom of the page). Instructions and an address are included on this shipping label. You will need to send one or two "Best Edition" copies of your work.²⁴

• If you are submitting electronically, click on "Upload Deposit". You will the be asked to upload a copy of your book. The Copyright Office requires that the file be submitted one of the following formats:²⁵

1. Microsoft Word document (.doc)
2. Microsoft Word Open XML Document (.docx)
3. HyperText Markup Language (.htm or .html)
4. Portable Document Format (.pdf)
5. Rich Text Document (.rtf)
6. Text File (.txt)
7. WordPerfect Document (.wpd)
8. Microsoft Works Word Processor Document (.wps)²⁵

Conclusion

• Protecting your book's copyright is something every author wants to do. While it may seem overwhelming at first, once you learn how it is not so scary. It is probably the easiest thing to do once you have written a book.

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References for How to Copyright a Book

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4} United States Copyright Office: Copyright in General
2. ↑ Leucrota Press: Do You Need to Put a Copyright Notice Before Submitting Your Manuscript?
3. ↑ Writing-World.com Will Editors Steal Your Ideas?
4. ↑ IPWatchdog.com: Copyrights & Copyright Law
5. ↑ United States Copyright Office: Form CO
6. ↑ ^{6.00 6.01 6.02 6.03 6.04 6.05 6.06 6.07 6.08 6.09 6.10 6.11 6.12 6.13 6.14 6.15 6.16 6.17 6.18 6.19 6.20 6.21 6.22 6.23 6.24 6.25 6.26 6.27} United States Copyright Office: Form CO Instructions  
7. ↑ United States Copyright Office: Copyright Forms by Mail
8. ↑ ^{8.0 8.1 8.2} United States Copyright Office: Online Services
9. ↑ ^{9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4} United States Copyright Office: Contact Us
10. ↑ ^{10.0 10.1} United States Copyright Office: Publication/Completion
11. ↑ ^{11.0 11.1} R.R. Bowker: ISBN (International Standard Book Number)
12. ↑ ^{12.0 12.1} United States Copyright Office: International Copyright Relations of the United States
13. ↑ ^{13.0 13.1} StephenKing.com: Skeleton Crew
14. ↑ ^{14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3} United States Copyright Office: Works Made for Hire under the 1976 Copyright Act
15. ↑ ^{15.00 15.01 15.02 15.03 15.04 15.05 15.06 15.07 15.08 15.09 15.10 15.11} United States Copyright Office: Help: Author
16. ↑ ^{16.0 16.1} Center for Studies of New Religions: "Rowling casts a spell that will give charities millions" (January 7, 2001)
17. ↑ ^{17.0 17.1} United States Copyright Office: Copyright Claimant
18. ↑ United States Copyright Office: Limitation of Claim
19. ↑ United States Copyright Office: reading the Security and Privacy Notice
20. ↑ United States Copyright Office: Preregistration
21. ↑ United States Copyright Office: Special Handling  
22. ↑ United States Copyright Office: Help: Deposit Copy
23. ↑ United States Copyright Office: How to Open and Maintain a Copyright Office Deposit Account
24. ↑ United States Copyright Office: Best Edition of Published Copyrighted Works (Circular 7b)
25. ↑ ^{25.0 25.1} United States Copyright Office: Help: List of Acceptable File Types for Electronic Registration

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