How do I copyright the book I wrote?
Your book is copyrighted the moment you write it. However, it will help if you take a few steps.
First of all, include a copyright notice to inform any potential infringers that your book is, in fact, copyrighted. For example: © John Doe 1994.
You can also go to http://www.copyright.gov/ and fill out the proper forms to have the official copyright for further protection.
However, there are also additional facts about your copyrighted book that you need to know.
You cannot copyright the title of your book. What you’re copyrighting is what your book contains and the specific expression of those ideas. Anyone is free to use the same exact title you chose. They are also free to write about the same topic that you wrote about. However, it becomes infringement when the book is word-for-word taken from yours. Copyright protects the specific way that you expressed the information in your book. [source]
Someone can reuse, adapt, quote, criticize text from your book without your permission as long as they adhere to the guidelines of fair use, even if you object to the way that person has re-appropriated your material, and even if they don’t give you credit for it.
If you are a writer with questions about the extent that copyright will protect your work automatically and whether formal registration is worth the effort and cost, feel free to contact New Media Rights via our contact form to find out whether you qualify for free or reduced fee legal services. For more information on the services we provide click here.
