The business filing experts at MyCorporation can make placing your Copyright order quick and painless. We are here to provide support during the filing process:

1. Fill out and submit the Copyright Application and Registration Service order form .
2. You will find requests for standard contact, billing, and authorization information, plus specific information requests concerning your copyright.
3. We prepare 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 it to the U.S. Copyright Office with a copy of the best edition of the work to be protected (i.e. deposit material) along with payment for the required amount.
6. After approval from the U.S. Copyright Office, the Copyright Registration will be forwarded to you.

Our business filing experts can answer any processing questions you might have.

• What is a copyright?
• What type of works are eligible for copyright protection?
• When can I use the © symbol?
• What is the duration of the copyright?

Q: What is a copyright?
A: 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.

Q: What type of works are eligible for copyright protection?
A: 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

Q: When can I use the © symbol?
A: Because copyrights are protected from the time the work is created and fixed in a tangible medium, you are 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.

Q: What is the duration of the copyright?
A: 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.

After 1923, 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.

Trademark or Copyright?

Which is Which and How to Protect Them?

Trademarks differ from copyrights because they protect words, logos, or symbols, while copyrights protect works of art (literary works, art work, or music). Trademarks are brand names, not works of art. If you are creating content for a website, for example, that content may be entitled to copyright protection, but the brand name or logo on the site may be protected by a federal trademark.