Make Fillable Legal Hawaii Copyright Forms For Free

This rumor gets passed around a lot, but it's sadly false. United States copyright law offers no official protection for a poor man's copyright. While you might be able to prove that you created it first, you need to be the first to file in order to get full protection.

When your original work is ready to be copyrighted, you can find the copyright registration application on copyright.gov. Registering your copyright is also important if you need to file a lawsuit for copyright infringement. The filing fee for copyright registration ranges from $35 to $55.

Under U.S. copyright law, your self published work is protected as soon as you put the pen to paper. Copyright is based on your creative authorship and is not dependent on any formal agreement with a book publisher or self publishing company, although registration with the U.S. Copyright Office is beneficial.

Copyright exists automatically in an original work of authorship once it is fixed, but a copyright owner can take steps to enhance the protections. The most important step is registering the work.

Personal use is when an individual uses a copyrighted work for private purposes, such as learning or entertainment. Personal use is a right given in the Copyright Clause of the U.S. Constitution, however, an issue arises when the individual wants to make a copy of the copyrighted work.

In general, all you need to do is create a work of authorship and write it down or otherwise record it somewhere. This will automatically create copyright protections. In theory, you do not need to own the original copy in order to own the copyright.