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    • Copyright Your Manuscript

    In 1976 the copyright laws were changed so that any work that had been "published" was automatically under protection of the copyright laws. "Publication" as defined by the law means any form of putting the work in print, even if it is only one copy printed from your printer. Here is how the law reads, taken from the United States government copyright website:

    HOW TO SECURE A COPYRIGHT
    Copyright Secured Automatically upon Creation

    The way in which copyright protection is secured is frequently misunderstood. No publication or registration or other action in the Copyright Office is required to secure copyright.

    Copyright is secured automatically when the work is created, and a work is "created" when it is fixed in a copy for the first time. "Copies" are material objects from which a work can be read or visually perceived either directly or with the aid of a machine or device, such as books, manuscripts, sheet music, film, videotape, or microfilm.

    If a work is prepared over a period of time, the part of the work that is fixed on a particular date constitutes the created work as of that date.

    PUBLICATION

    Publication is no longer the key to obtaining federal copyright as it was under the Copyright Act of 1909. However, publication remains important to copyright owners.

    The 1976 Copyright Act defines publication as follows:
    "Publication" is the distribution of copies of a work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by rental, lease, or lending. The offering to distribute copies to a group of persons for purposes of further distribution, public performance, or public display constitutes publication. A public performance or display of a work does not of itself constitute publication.
    WHAT WORKS ARE PROTECTED?

    Copyright protects "original works of authorship" that are fixed in a tangible form of expression. The fixation need not be directly perceptible so long as it may be communicated with the aid of a machine or device. Copyrightable works include the following categories:
    1. literary works
    2. musical works, including any accompanying words
    3. dramatic works, including any accompanying music
    4. pantomimes and choreographic works
    5. pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works
    6. motion pictures and other audiovisual works
    7. sound recordings
    8. architectural works
    These categories should be viewed broadly. For example, computer programs and most "compilations" may be registered as "literary works"; maps and architectural plans may be registered as "pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works."

    WHAT IS NOT PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT?

    Several categories of material are generally not eligible for federal copyright protection. These include among others:
    • Works that have not been fixed in a tangible form of expression (for example, choreographic works that have not been notated or recorded, or improvisational speeches or performances that have not been written or recorded)
    • Titles, names, short phrases, and slogans; familiar symbols or designs; mere variations of typographic ornamentation, lettering, or coloring; mere listings of ingredients or contents
    • Ideas, procedures, methods, systems, processes, concepts, principles, discoveries, or devices, as distinguished from a description, explanation, or illustration
    • Works consisting entirely of information that is common property and containing no original authorship (for example: standard calendars, height and weight charts, tape measures and rulers, and lists or tables taken from public documents or other common sources)
    For further information on copyright law or how to actually file a copyright and send your book to the Library of Congress, visit http://www.copyright.gov.



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