HOW TO COPYRIGHT YOUR SOFTWARE APPLICATION 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 a computer program.

The Copyright Act of 1976 is the legal lynchpin and definition for everything to do with copyrights. According to the copyright law, copyright exists as soon as you've put your creative work into some tangible form, which is what a computer program is. This means, as the programmer or creator, you are the copyright owner right immediately. The purpose of registering copyright is to evidence proof that you are the creator of your computer program. Even if you have not yet completed your software or computer code, registration is important for added legal protection.

The United States Copyright Office defines a computer program as, "a set of statements or instructions to be used directly or indirectly in a computer in order to bring about a certain result."

You can go to the United States Copyright Office's website at http://www.copyright.gov/ to register a copyright. All you need to do is file an application for the work which you want to copyright. The basic application to register a new copyright contains three elements. These three are:

1. The completed application form.

2. The filing fee.

3. A non-returnable deposit of the work being registered (A copy of the program on CD-ROM, the manual, and the first 25 and last 25 pages of the program's source code on paper if the program does not contain any trade secret code).

Note: If the computer program contains trade secret code, you must include a cover letter stating that the program contains such code. You may block out these lines of code, or submit the first ten and last ten pages of code in their entirety. For programs that have a source code of less than 50 pages, the entire source code must be submitted.

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 Visual Arts, there are three options available:

1. Online Registration.

2. Registration With Fill-In Form CO.

3. Registration With paper Forms.

Information for all three filing methods can be found at the U.S. Copyright Office's website 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 use this route, 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, but you would most likely still have to satisfy the requirement of physically mailing a copy of the manual and source code. As of this writing, the fee for using this option is $35. This is the preferred method for programs not contained on a CD-ROM or other type of optical media. The source code and manual may be digitally uploaded as well.

2. Registration With Fill-In Form CO:

This registration appends the first method and the third method. Visit the Copyright Office's website at http://www.copyright.gov/ and obtain the form CO at http://www.copyright.gov/forms/formco2d.pdf. This form contains a unique 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 at press time) and mail them in along with the non-returnable deposit of the work. If the CO form is damaged in any way and is unreadable at the Copyright Office, the normal paper filing fee will be $65 on this registration.

It is important NOT to use same "CO form" to make other registrations and filings. Each registration form contains a unique barcode for that registration. If you reuse the same form, even with different text on the page, the barcode would be identical to the barcode generated for the 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 Visual Arts, you must use Form TX. Of all of the types of registration, this is the most expensive at $65. Payable by check.

Use this address to mail your paper applications and hard copies to the Library of Congress' Copyright Office:

Library of Congress

U.S. Copyright Office-TX

101 Independence Avenue SE

Washington, DC 20559-6222

For computer software works, 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.

Once the Copyright paperwork has been filed, or before, since all work is awarded a copyright as soon as it has been created, you should place the following three elements:

2. The year when the publication was first released or created. If the work is a compilation of previously published material, then you can supply the year of the compilation.

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 reasonably long. In the United States for works created after January 1, 1978 copyright lasts for the author's life plus 70 years. 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.