COPYRIGHT LAW - PART 3

*  When you sell a book, the publisher registers the copyright. The contract will specify whether it is copyrighted in the name of the author or name of the publisher (that is negotiable).

1. If you have an article published in a copyrighted publication, your article is covered under that publisher’s copyright. If selling to an uncopyrighted publication (where they do not register the copyright), it is best to ask that your copyright notice appear at the end of your article. Asking for a copyright notice on your piece even in a copyrighted publication indicates to the reader that they need to contact you, not the publisher, if they want permission to quote from or reprint it
2. If you ask that your copyright notice appear on every article you have published (whether the publication is copyrighted or not), you may register all those published pieces at the end of the year for one $45 fee. Bind them together or put in a loose-leaf binder under a collective title, such as “The Writings of Jane Doe 2016.” If a copyright notice does not appear on an article, it cannot be included in this collection.
3. You may also register all your unpublished pieces for the year in the same way, selecting a similar identifying title.
4. The copyright law does provide a way to correct or restore copyright protection if it was lost due to an error in or omission of the copyright notice, as long as it is done within 5 years of the error.