How to Copyright a Book

Steps

1. Make sure your work is a literary work. Literary works may be published or unpublished and include nondramatic textual works with or without illustrations. Computer programs and databases also are considered literary works.
2. Decide where to register.There are a number of specialist international copyright registration organizations, and most will store a copy of your work as evidence of your claim, and will be able to produce it as evidence to help prove your claim in the event of a copyright dispute.
   • If you are a US citizen, you will need to register with the US Copyright Office (Library of Congress) before you are able to make a claim in a US court. Registration may also entitle you to statutory damages in a US court case.
   • For registration outside the US, choose a reputable service or speak to your solicitor. The links below should help.
3. Register your work - US citizens.
   • Obtain Form TX or Short Form TX (choose which form to use) from the Library of Congress.
   • Fill out the application and post it along with a copy of your work and the registration fee.
   • If your submission is in order, you should receive a certificate of registration in about 4 to 5 months.
4. Register your work - Outside the US.
   • Historically, many people used to simply lodge copies with a solicitor, but these days there are a number of specialist services such as the UKCS are cheaper and take better care of your work than a solicitor, and are generally much faster than a US registration.

Tips

• Remember that by U.S. law all literary works are copyrighted the moment they are created. Nothing needs to be filed, though copyright-filing companies would like you to believe otherwise. Registering a copyright will serve only to support your claim should anyone try to steal your work.
• Most reputable publishers and agents see an author's copyrighting of his or her manuscript to be a mark of amateurism. Professional writers do not copyright manuscripts.
• Re-check form prior to mailing, to make sure you have signed and dated it, and attached the check.
• Make a copy of the forms for safe keeping in case the original gets lost in the mail.

Warnings

• Registration deposits are normally non-returnable. Send a copy of your work, not the original.
• In the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, the British Library should also be sent a copy of any published book within one month of publication, (your publisher will normally take care of this for you).

References

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