Copyright Information

The only way to register copyright for an original work is to use the facilities offered by the Library of the Congress in the United States. There is an office designated to handle all copyright matters called the United States Copyright Office. This copyright office was established in order to maintain and control all registrations as well as inform the public and interested individuals regarding copyright, copyright laws, rules, regulations, current legislation, and plenty of other information, all in some or any way related to the copyright. Although there is no need to register your work in order for it to be subject to copyright protection, many choose to do so in order to have written proof and are attempting to bring a lawsuit for infringement of a U.S. work. In short, if an American or anyone in the United States of America has infringed upon your copyright and you have to sue them, the American law requires your work to be registered with their copyright office, provided you are American and the work is American origin as well. In case that you are European, this does not apply to you. But as you may imagine, many abuse possibilities arise from a registered copyright when applied to one which is not registered. But that is not the issue here. How to register your work? There are several possibilities given, all of them are available on the official web site. First of all, there is electronic registration available. The big "E" sign leads to the Electronic Copyright Office, where you can register your work online for a reduced fee. All the pertinent information, FAQ, tips and a tutorial are available to inform you how to do it right. They accept credit cards, debit cards, electronic checks and even something called Copyright Office deposit account. The FAQ clearly describe which filings can be made with this system and which are not supported yet. The second best option for registering your work with the US Copyright Office is to register by using the Fill-In Form CO. This form is a new document in pdf format, where you can right from your computer fill in all the information necessary to register your work. The program generates a barcode which can be read by the Copyright Office, significantly reducing the processing time. Again, all pertinent information is given as to how to use this form and what to do with it when you've filled in the blanks. The old form of filing with paper versions is still available, you may request the copyright kit to be sent to you by mail.