The conversation surrounding copyright is extremely convoluted, and the topic will pop in and out of the public’s awareness as high profile cases occasionally present themselves. Often, authors struggle with understanding what it means to own copyrighted material and where their responsibilities to their intellectual property lie.
In 2020, the US government created the Copyright Claims Board, which finally began operations in Summer 2022. It is a division of the courts that specializes in a streamlined process for filing copyright claims. This is a dedicated group of judges and legal team members who specialize in processing copyright claims.
To help, we’ve created a primer for Read Furiously authors and what it means to protect your work.
Firstly, it’s important to understand that Read Furiously never requires a creator to sign over the copyright to their work. The only thing Read Furiously ever receives is the right to publish the work, which does not claim any ownership over it. When Read Furiously purchases an ISBN for your book, Read Furiously owns the printing rights associated with that ISBN edition. Read Furiously does not own the content within that ISBN edition - the content itself still belongs to you, the creator. The exception to this is any artwork Read Furiously designs for your book. This can include book covers, infographics, or anything designed in house within the book. Read Furiously owns these images and only these images (though not necessarily the content within them (i.e. title on a cover, any copy the author wrote within an infographic).
As your publisher, Read Furiously is responsible for the following efforts toward ensuring your book is protected:
Checking public records to confirm titles, concepts, etc. are not already copyright to another work that may conflict with the publication of your book.
Purchasing official ISBNs for a title directly through Bowker, the official agency of record for ISBNs.
A separate ISBN is purchased for each edition of the book that is released.
Registering the book with the Library of Congress prior to its release.
And subsequently submitting the book to the Library of Congress for archiving upon its release.
If the author chooses to, they can add an additional copyright protection to their work through:
Copyright.gov (for US based creators, anyone outside the US, please check your local copyright agency)
If you need assistance in navigating the process, places like Legal Zoom can offer inexpensive assistance in filing your copyright.
No. Your book is automatically copyright the minute it exists in some physical form. This can be a manuscript on your hard drive, a physical copy of the book, and your first email to Read Furiously with the submission manuscript. The benefit of filing for a copyright is that the author is granted additional legal protection in the case of any potential copyright claims. This means that should any instances arise where a court may question the copyright of a particular work, the copyright filing fulfills any requirement that they may have and the author will not be required to provide any additional proof of ownership.
As we mentioned before, all work is copyright through Read Furiously’s publishing methods. However, if you are choosing to use your work for speaking engagements, online course building, or licensing outside the literary work (i.e. selling TV or film rights, merchandising, etc), it is recommended to copyright the literary work to ensure an accurate paper trail exists.
Most copyright complications occur in the self-publishing industry with authors that do not have a publisher behind them, do not have an official ISBN, are not registered with the Library of Congress via their publisher, and are only published as an ebook through Amazon via KDP. Again, Read Furiously makes sure to keep their own paper trail for copyright and registering with the copyright office is up to the author’s discretion and comfort level.
For a title that has an official print release date, copyright can not be applied for until after the book has been released. This can occur though, at any point following that date. There is no time limit on when a work can be copyrighted. But, as the point of copyrighting is to protect it from potential conflicts from outside parties, the sooner a book is copyrighted following the release date, the sooner these protections go into place.
If you choose to do so, it is recommended that the author be proactive in applying for copyright of their work. This will ensure it is copyright in your name. As your publisher, we are always here to support you and your book. Since we already take the necessary steps to ensure your copyright, this registration is not in our administrative protocol. However, we can register on your behalf for this additional copyright protection to ensure the book is copyrighted in your name. In these instances, the processing fees will be deducted from your royalty payment.