Real World Digital Video, Second Edition

Copyright

Note that the list of deliverables includes registration of copyright. For media projects, copyright applies to both scripts and recorded works. Technically, your copyright begins the moment your project exists in tangible form (on paper or on tape), but it's difficult to defend your rights unless there's a public record of the work's existence—which is the purpose of copyright registration. The date of registration also establishes the term of copyright, which will expire eventually. At that time (many years after your demise), your work will belong to the public, along with Little Women and Huckleberry Finn.

To register a script or a completed video (which require separate registrations) in the United States, you must send a completed ...