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What is the procedure to copyright a book?

Posted on: 12/Jul/2019 10:12:58 AM
Though the actual procedure of copyright a book is easy, the basic copyright protection is abstract. The very moment an author is done writing a book, he naturally holds the copyright for the book. This holds true even if the book is not published still or registered for copyrights. For obtaining copyright for a book, the author must have extra layers of protection in the form of federal registration.

This article is a coverage of the procedures as to how a book can be registered for copyright, how it can protect original works and how the copyright can be reserved by the author before publishing the book.

In what ways do copyright helps protect a book?

As the name says, copyright gives the author the essential right for their original works. By holding copyright, the author will have ownership of his work and the bookstore or publisher will not be able to make multiple copies of the book and sell it in the market to the readers. By buying a book, the customers are not just buying the book, but a copy of original intellectual work of the author including all the characters and plot of the context.

It is based on the nature of the book that the copyright formalities differ. Considering a phonebook, there is very little material or content that is copyrightable. There are very simple list of facts. On the other hand, in case of a romantic novel or fiction thriller, there is the entire plot including all of its characters and multiple elements with a wider world.

Coming on to historic book containing a story, the case is different too. Perhaps the hero of the novel will have a charming noble character or belong to a lowly farmer of Scottish highlands. In case of one other novel where the author makes the plot in some other dynasty whereas the points and characters remain quite the same, the former author may be able to raise copyright issues to the latter claiming the use of similar plots.

The exact procedure to copyright a book

You completely own the copyright of the book you right from the very moment you finish writing. However if you have the novel idle on your computer device, what will be the case? There is no way that you can prove your original work.

With copyright, one can prevent copying the original works done. There are possibilities of 2 people to device the same idea right during the same period of time. Either of them may not be aware of the ideas of one other. So there will be equal rights for both of them to make the claim.

For getting copyright for a book, you ought to get registered with copyright. This will give rise to a constructive notice which is highly essential.

It is very easy to register for book copyright. Coming on to copyright for a intellectual property, the procedure is tough. For works like a novel or book, the copyright registration will fetch the author with massive intellectual property protection. For registering ones creative works, one can visit copyright.gov. this website will have options to create library of congress. It will take you to an online portal where you can register for copyright for all kinds of works like photographs, sculptures, writing works, etc. There is an application form which you should fill up and get yourself registered. Things have in fact made easier as you can make the entire procedure online.

What is the need for an author to get registered for book copyright?

In case of copyright, it will help in preventing any others to copy original works done by you. In case of constructive notice, it will ascertain that from the moment of registering forward, no one can claim the copyright. As the work gets registered, whether or not the person has read your work before doing close-to-original work, the copyright claim cannot be done.

In constructive notice, the factor of knowledge on your book is considered irrelevant. The entire plot and all of its characters and settings are considered yours. There is no part of entire portion of infringement of the book that can be replicated in any form.

Is it mandatory to get copyright registration done before publishing your book?

There are two ways in which an author can publish their works. Regardless of how the technology has grown, there is inevitable need for registering for a book. As the book is published, the world has your work available for reading. The characters and story and other aspects of the book are entirely your choice. All these are completely protected as you register for book copyright.

In case you want to protect the character in your novel and the travel destinations you have described in the book, it is mandatory that you register the book and affirm that it is an intellectual property.