There could be any number of reasons you find yourself interested in learning how to copyright something. Perhaps you have just spent the afternoon writing and singing your first song. Perhaps you have just closed a rather large novel project and you want to make sure parts of it can’t be stolen as you begin to shop around agents and publishers. Whatever your reason for finding out how to copyright you will be pleasantly surprised at how easy it can be. Here’s what you need to get started.

Library Of Congress

You will be sending out your copyright paperwork to the Library of Congress in order to get it registered. The quickest way to get this paperwork is to go to the Library website and print it off. You can either decide to do the work over the internet or opt for the traditional mailing route. Most people choose to go through snail mail because they feel it’s a little more formal. During this process, not only will you submit their filled out paperwork and forms, you will also send off a copy of the work you are getting copyrighted.

Be careful to get the information right the first time you fill the paperwork out. Anything that involves the government processing paperwork can take eons to complete. If you have to send it back and forth because you’ve made a simple error or two it can quickly become frustrating and possibly cause you to drop the important pursuit. If you are unsure as to some parts of the paperwork and how to properly fill it out you may find it beneficial to invest in a lawyer to advise you the correct way.

This can sometimes be a bit of a lengthy process and has been known to even take close to a year to get all the processing complete, though it generally only takes a few months. If you go the mail route, when you get the packet in the mail you’ll want to make sure to send it with your check for the required fees by registered mail to the right address. Don’t let the receipt go until the entire process is complete because if the information gets lost you’ll have something to track it by. When you are done with this process you will have created a record publically that you have a copyrighted work.

Registered-What Now?

Once you have your work officially registered you will have documentation verifying its protection along with identification numbers. At this point you are able to keep an eye on your work for any copyright infringement. With the growing amount of internet commerce there are more and more reasons to get protection of information on your site and there are more and more ways to insure your site info isn’t being used elsewhere.

Once your work is fully protected you are able to start sharing, selling and distributing without the worry that others will start doing the same and making money off of your hard work.