Copyright - $99*

The Copyright Office fee to register a basic claim in an original work is $35.

No. Any original work of authorship has copyright protection the moment it is created and put into a tangible form. However, it is a good idea to register with the United States Copyright Office if you want to have the facts of your copyright on the public record and have a certificate of registration. Also, if you anticipate any litigation concerning your work, you will have to register with the U.S. Copyright Office.

Yes, certain works are not eligible for copyright protection. For example, works that have not been fixed in a tangible form of expression, such as an improvisational speech or song that has not been written or recorded. Titles, names, short phrases, slogans, familiar symbols or designs, and mere listings of ingredients or contents are not eligible for copyright protection. Also, ideas, procedures, methods, systems, processes, concepts, etc. are not eligible for copyright protection, although a description, explanation, or illustration would be eligible.

You may register unpublished works as a collection on one application with one title for the entire collection if certain conditions are met. It is not necessary to list the individual titles in your collection. Published works may only be registered as a collection if they were actually first published as a collection and if other requirements have been met.

Yes. When your copyright registration application is filed with with the U.S. Copyright Office, you are making a public record. All the information you provide on your copyright registration is available to the public and will be available on the Internet.

No. Publication is not necessary for copyright protection.

Remember that as soon as you create an original work of authorship that is fixed in a tangible form of expression, you have secured copyright. However, you can get additional protection for your work by obtaining copyright registration. In order to get copyright registration, you have the option of online registration through the U.S. Copyright Office's website; you can use the new fill-in Form CO (which is done on your personal computer, printed out, then mailed to the U.S. Copyright Office); or there are paper versions of registration form available upon request.

The term of copyright for a particular work depends on several factors, including whether it has been published, and, if so, the date of first publication. As a general rule, for works created after January 1, 1978, copyright protection lasts for the life of the author plus an additional 70 years.