Adding a Copyright to Your Book

As soon as your work is created into a tangible medium (finished book) its given copyright protection automatically.

So why do people buy a copyright? To sue someone for plagiarism or infringing on their work. You need to file a copyright to sue. However, you don’t need to file it until that time occurs, which it likely never will.

You can write your book, sell it for years, and one day find out someone is selling your book under a different name or stole a core idea. At that point file for a copyright to sue.

A copyright notice can be placed in your book. It has no legal standing, but can help prevent people who don’t fully understand the law from infringing on your work. It’s also official looking and a copyright notice wouldn’t hurt. I advise the majority of authors to skip the fees of filing, which can cost you $35 or as much as $500 if you have an attorney do it.

Another misunderstanding is that a copyright notice needs to have the © symbol. Since the copyright notice doesn’t mean anything anyway, the symbol doesn’t add or subtract from that meaning. It does look more official so to make it in most document software you hit ( then a capital C followed by another ). After hitting space it should automatically turn to the © symbol.

If you’re writing a book that is making hundreds to thousands a month, it may be worth filing for a copyright. You can only get statutory damages for infringements that took place after the registration or after publication.

But you don’t even need to file a copyright or sue someone to file a Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) notice, send a cease and desist letter, or request licensing for the work being used. Most copyright lawsuits don’t amount to much. There are exceptions, of course.

If you plan to protect your copyright, you need to do so quickly. Let’s say a portion of your book leaks to the internet and circulates for a few years. You decide enough is enough and decide to sue one of the infringers. It’s not likely you will win. You didn’t protect it originally and it's wide spread yet you're suing one source. Protecting your copyright is an all or nothing approach from the start. I say save the money and take action when action needs to be taken. Anything else is a waste of $35 dollars.

Your book name isn’t copyrighted, it's your content that is. So another book can take your name. That would get into trademarking and involves a lot more. It’s not common to trademark your book name, unless you have a blockbuster series and then it may be something to look into.

Here is a generic copyright notice you can place in your book:

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed “Attention: Permissions Coordinator,” at the address below:

XXXX

Where the last group of XXXX’s is put an address or contact for people looking to licence or inquire about the use of your work. You can have an email address and change the wording from “address below” to “email below.”