Introduction to Copyright Applications

The U.S. Copyright Office is the only office in the United States that can accept copyright applications and issue registrations. To register a work, an author or copyright claimant must submit a completed application form, a nonrefundable filing fee of $30, and two deposit copies of the work to be registered (only one copy is required if the work is unpublished).

There is no need to conduct a search of Copyright Office records before filing an application. Copyright law protects original works, meaning works created through an author's creative process rather than those copied from another. There is no requirement that the work be the only one of its kind. Thus, the fact that an identical bracelet, poem, ...

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