Every wondered how to copyright a book? It’s easy to do. However, the legality and details of copyright protection is complicated. An author owns the rights to a book the moment the book is written.
Below is about how to copyright a book, what it actually does, and how secure your rights are before publishing a book.
How Copyright Protects a Book
Copyright is exactly what it states: you own the rights to the copy or written document. It protect authors from having their book stolen by other authors or bookstores making copies of the book and selling them without purchasing the copies from the author. When a customer buys a book, they are not merely buying a product. They are buying the author’s intellectual property.
The nature of a book’s copyright depends on the type of book it is. For example, a phone book likely does not contain any copyright-worthy material. It is simply a book of phone numbers. On the other hand, a horror novel is full of copyright material. In addition to the written text of the book, the copyright extends to the the plot, characters and elements of the fictional world that the author creates. For example, you could not write a book about Middle Earth without getting permission from J.R.R. Tolkien’s family who owns the copyright to that fictional world.
Additionally, if you write a romance novel where the hero must choose between the buxom bar maid or the sweet peasant girl in New Orleans, and another author uses very similar characters or plot points, you may be able to take them to court over copyright infringement.
How to Copyright a Book
Your book is technically copyrighted the moment you write it. But if your book was never published and is merely sitting on your computer hard drive, you will have a difficult time asserting your claim if another author publishes a book similar to your own.
Unless the author of the other book read your manuscript, you would have no claim against her. A copy right prevents someone from copying your work, but it does not protect your work from simultaneous creation. If two authors come up with the same idea and write similar books, completely unaware of one another, they would both be able to claim copyright protection for their work.
To get the full benefit, you must register your copyright. This puts the world on notice that you own the intellectual property of the characters, the plot and everything to do with your book.
Registering is Easy
Registering is easy and affordable. To register a book, simply go to copyright.gov. The author simply completes the form, pays the fee and is registered. If you don’t want to do all of this, you can also use an online resource to register your work for you. Selfpublishing.com is one such resource.
Why Should I Register?
The key word is “constructive notice”. Constructive notice allows you to assert your rights against anyone from the date of registration forward. This is different from copyright which basically only prevents other writers from copying your work. Constructive notice makes prior knowledge of your book immaterial. This means that no one can infringe upon your rights to your book, its characters, setting, etc. If they do, you should take them to court!
Register Before Publishing
There are many ways writers can publish their work these days. You can publish online through your website, through traditional publishing houses, through Amazon KDP, or wherever. Technology will always change and advancements will always be made. However, registering your book will give you additional piece of mind that your work is protected to teh fullest extent. And who doesn’t want piece of mind?
Have you registered your book? If so, we’d love to hear your experiences. Comment below to let us know.
We might earn a small affiliate commission from recommending products and services, and we may earn some revenue from ads. This is to help manage the costs of hosting and maintaining this website. Your support is appreciated. Click here to support us with Patreon: 80percentdone.
