• Complete Document Filing Services

Overview

MyCorporation offers copyright application services.

Copyright protects "original works of authorship." Copyrightable works include the following categories:

  • literary works
  • musical works, including any accompanying words
  • dramatic works, including any accompanying music
  • pantomimes and choreographic works
  • pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works
  • motion pictures and other audiovisual works
  • sound recordings
  • architectural works

Copyright laws grant the creator of the "work" the exclusive right to reproduce, prepare derivative works, distribute, perform and display the work publicly.

At its most general, copyright is literally "the right to copy" an original creation.

The Process

  1. Fill out and submit the Copyright Application and Registration Service order form on our website.
  2. You will find requests for standard contact, billing, and authorization information, plus specific information requests concerning your copyright.
  3. MyCorporation prepares the forms and documents for filing with the U.S. Copyright Office.
  4. We return all documents to you.
  5. You sign the Copyright Application and forward to the U.S. Copyright Office with a sample of how the copyright is being used (i.e., deposit material), along with a personal check for the indicated amount.
  6. After approval from the U.S. Copyright Office, the Copyright Registration will be forwarded to you.

Further Questions?


What is a copyright?

A copyright is the protection that is afforded a work that is fixed in a tangible medium. Copyright laws grant the creator of the "work" the exclusive right to reproduce, prepare derivative works, distribute, perform and display the work publicly.

What type of works are eligible for copyright Protection?

Copyrightable works include the following categories:

  • literary works
  • musical works, including any accompanying words
  • dramatic works, including any accompanying music
  • pantomimes and choreographic works
  • pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works
  • motion pictures and other audiovisual works
  • sound recordings
  • architectural works

What form should I use when I file my application?

Generally, to register literary works and computer programs, use Form TX; for performing arts, use Form PA; for sound recordings, use Form SR; for visual arts, use Form VA.

When can I use the © symbol?

Because copyrights are protected from the time the work is created and fixed in a tangible medium, one is entitled to use the © symbol from the time the work is fixed. However, the work is afforded greater protection once it is registered with the U.S. Copyright Office.

What is the duration of the copyright?

The duration of copyright protection recently changed as a result of the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998. The easiest rule to state is that Copyrights have expired on all United States works registered or published prior to 1923. As a result, all such works have entered into the public domain.

Beyond that, however, it is more complicated to determine when a copyright will expire. Like the old provisions, the duration of copyright protection under these new provisions depends upon when the work was created and first published.

Works Originally created on or after January 1, 1978: This is governed by statutory section 17 USC 302. According to this section, a work that is created (fixed in tangible form for the first time) on or after January 1, 1978 is ordinarily given a term enduring for the author's life, plus an additional 70 years after the author's death.

In the case of "a joint work" prepared by two or more authors that was not a "work made for hire," the term lasts for 70 years after the last surviving author's death. For works made for hire, and for anonymous and pseudonymous works (unless the author's identity is revealed in Copyright Office records), the duration of copyright will be 95 years from publication or 120 years from creation, whichever is shorter.