HOW TO COPYRIGHT AN EBOOK by ResearchCopyright.com

In the United States, whenever a work is completed in a tangible form, either as a physical item or as a piece computer code, it is under copyright protection. This is no different for an electronic book.

Copyright protection attaches immediately and automatically to your created works. The registration process is fairly straightforward and the fees are low for registration. Many people decide to register their works with the Copyright Office for extra protection in case of legal matters.

If you decide to register a copyright in the United States, you can complete a simple application. The application for copyright registration includes the following:

1. The completed application form.

2. The filing fee.

3. A non-returnable deposit of the work being registered (A copy of the eBook, image, painting, etc)

The work is registered effective on the day the Copyright Office receives the three items, regardless of how long the Office takes to process the work and mail the certificate of registration. When registering a copyright for an electronic book, there are three options available:

1. Online Registration.

2. Registration With Fill-In Form CO.

3. Registration With paper Forms.

You can find information for all three filings at www.copyright.gov/eco/.

1. Online Registration:

Filing online offers several advantages over the other two filing methods, mainly a lower filing fee, faster processing time, the ability to track the process of the filing online, and the ability to pay via credit or debit card, as well as electronic check.

If you decide to file, you still have to mail in a non-returnable deposit of the work being copyrighted if it's already published, you can also opt to submit an electronic version of the work. As of this writing, the fee for using this option is $35. For an electronic book, this would be the best method to use as the eBook itself is already in an electronic format.

2. Registration With Fill-In Form CO:

This method of registration combines the first method and the third method. Visit the Copyright Office's website and retrieve the form CO from the form's page. This form contains a barcode that is readable by the Copyright Office. Complete this form on your computer, print it out, and mail it in, along with a check for $50 (the fee for form CO). Mail everything (including with the non-returnable deposit) of the work. If the CO form is damaged or is unreadable at the Copyright Office, the normal paper filing fee of $65 will be levied on this registration.

Do not reuse the same "CO form" to register other copyrights because each form contains a unique barcode for that registration. If you reuse it, even though the text on the page might be different, the barcode would be the same barcode on original filing.

3. Registration With Paper Forms:

The forms needed to register a work with paper forms are available on the website, but can also be sent by postal mail upon request. For an eBook you would use Form TX, which is the same form you would use for a literary work that is in a standard book format. Of all of the types of registration, this is the most expensive at $65. Payable by check. Since this is for an eBook, the non-returnable deposit can be on a CD-R. One if it is for an unpublished item, two for a published item.

The address to send your application(s) and hard copies to the Library of Congress' Copyright Office is as follows:

Library of Congress

U.S. Copyright Office-TX

101 Independence Avenue SE

Washington, DC 20559-6222

For Textual works (including eBooks), you must make sure the ZIP is set to 6222 so it is routed to the correct branch of the Copyright Office. Failing to do that may make processing take longer. If you are sending your hard copy deposit after registering with online, make sure to include a letter detailing the specific information needed so the office knows what to do with your deposit.

After you have filed your copyright application with the Copyright Office, your work is immediately awarded a copyright. You can now put an official copyright notice, according to the following guidelines:

2. The year when the creator first published the work(s). If the work is a compilation with previously published material, then the year of the compilation is enough.

3. The name of the copyright owner.

This is for "visually perceptible copies"—for sound recordings, the © symbol is not used, instead the letter P in a circle is used to denote sound recordings.

Copyright protection in the United States lasts for the author's life plus 70 years for works created after January 1, 1978. Copyright protection for works made for hire, anonymous, and pseudonymous works (unless the real author's identity is listed in the Copyright Office's records) the duration is 95 years from the date of publication, or 120 years from the creation of the work, whichever comes first.