WHO CAN CLAIM COPYRIGHT ?

Copyright protection exhists from the time the work is created. The copyright immediately becomes the property of the author who created the work. Only the author or those deriving their rights through the author can rightfully claim copyright.

In the case of works made for hire the employer and not the employee is considered to be the author. Section 101 of the copyright law defines a "work made for hire" as:

• (1) a work prepared by an employee within the scope of his or her employment; or
• (2) a work specially ordered or commissioned for use as if the parties expressly agree in a written instrument signed by them that the work shall be considered a work made for hire....

The authors of a joint work are co-owners of the copyright in the work unless there is an agreement to the contrary.

Copyright in each separate contribution to a periodical or other collective work is distinct from copyright in the collective work as a whole and vests initially with the author of the contribution.

Literary Works

Follow these steps to register your book manuscript online work poetry or other text.

Step 1

Literary works may be published or unpublished and include nondramatic textual works with or without illustrations. Computer programs and databases also are considered literary works.

Step 2

Put into one envelope or package

• a completed application Form TX or Short Form TX (choose which form to use)
  
  
• a $30 payment to "Register of Copyrights.
  
  
• nonreturnable copy(ies) of the material to be registered. Step

Step 3

Send the package to

Library of Congress
Copyright Office
101 Independence Avenue S.E.
Washington D.C. 20559-6000