Copyrights are very different from patents and trademarks. A patent primarily prevents inventions, discoveries, or advancements of useful processes from being manufactured, used, or marketed by anyone other than the patentee. A trademark is a word, name, or symbol to indicate origin and, in so doing, distinguish the products and services of one company from those of another.

Copyright protects “original works of authorship” that are fixed in a tangible form of expression. The fixation need not be directly perceptible as long as it may be communicated with the aid of a machine or device.

Copyrightable works can fall into the following categories:

These categories should be viewed broadly. For example, computer programs and most “compilations” may be registered as “literary works”; maps and architectural plans may be registered as “pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works.” Barbie and Ken, Mattel dolls, are copyrighted as sculptural works.

Copyright does not protect ideas, concepts, systems, or methods of doing something. Copyrights protect the form of expression rather than the subject matter of the writing. You may express your ideas in writing or drawings and claim copyright in your description, but be aware that copyright will not protect the idea itself as revealed in your written or artistic work.

Copyrights are not handled by the Patent and Trademark Office. For this, we move across the Potomac River from the USPTO’s Alexandria, Virginia, headquarters to Washington, D.C., up Independence Avenue, and to Capitol Hill to the Library of Congress, on the fourth floor of the James Madison Memorial Building. This august institution is primarily responsible for administering copyright law.

In fiscal year 1999, the Copyright Office transferred over 950,000 copyright deposit copies, valued at more than $36 million, to the Library of Congress for its collections.

The Library of Congress, of which the Copyright Office is a part, was established in 1800. It has about 115 million items in its collections, including over 25 million books and other printed matter. The special collections include over 35 million charts, maps, photos, etc. There are also about 5,700 incunabula (books printed before 1501).

You may visit the Copyright Public Information Office at 101 Independence Avenue SE, Washington, D.C., or call 202-707-3000. Recorded information on copyright is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Information specialists are on duty to answer queries by phone or in person from 8:30 A.M. to 5 P.M. Monday through Friday, except holidays. Mail should be addressed to Register of Copyrights, Copyright Office, Library of Congress, Washington, DC 20559-6000.

Copyright protection is available to you for both published and unpublished works. I slap copyright notices on many things I create—proposals, instruction sheets, game content, game boards, package copy, video presentations, sculptures, drawings, photographs, etc. I do not go through the formal process of registering everything, but I typically place the copyright notice on appropriate products, which is legal.

If a licensee opts to use my copyrighted material, I insist that my copyright notice appear on the package or the elements to which it pertains. I typically make it a part of the license agreement. Few object. A couple times, I was told that a product could have only one copyright notice and that it had to be the company’s. A call to the Library of Congress settled it. Products can list as many copyrights as are appropriate. For example, there can be one on the artwork, another on the package text and trade dress, yet another on the instructions, etc.

The way in which copyright protection is secured under the present law is frequently misunderstood. In years past, it was required that you fill out forms and send them to the Library of Congress, together with a check and a number of copies of the original work. Today no publication, registration, or other action in the Copyright Office is required to secure copyright under the new law.

Under present law, copyright is secured “automatically” when the work is created, and the work is “created” when it is fixed in a copy or phonographically recorded for the first time. In general, “copies” are material objects from which a work can be read or visually perceived either directly or with the aid of a machine or device, such as books, manuscripts, sheet music, film, videotape, or microfilm.

Registration is recommended for a number of reasons. You might want to register your work to have the facts of your copyright on the public record and have a certificate of registration. Registered works may be eligible for statutory damages and attorney’s fees in successful litigation. Finally, if registration occurs within five years of publication, it is considered prima facie evidence in a court of law.

Copyright does not protect names, titles, slogans, or short phrases. In some cases, these may be protected as trademarks. Contact the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office at 1-800-786-9199 for further information. However, copyright protection may be available for logo artwork that contains sufficient authorship. In some circumstances, an artistic logo may also be protected as a trademark.

The following persons are legally entitled to submit an application form:

The author. This is either the person who actually created the work or, if the work was made-for-hire, the employer or other person for whom the work was prepared.

The copyright claimant. The copyright claimant is defined in Copyright Office regulations as either the author of the work or a person or organization that has obtained ownership of all the rights under the copyright initially belonging to the author. This category includes a person or organization that has obtained by contract the right to claim legal title to the copyright in an application for copyright registration.

The owner of exclusive right(s). Under the law, any of the exclusive rights that make up a copyright and any subdivision of them can be transferred and owned separately, even though the transfer may be limited in time or place of effect. The term copyright owner, with respect to any one of the exclusive rights contained in a copyright, refers to the owner of that particular right. Any owner of an exclusive right may apply for registration of a claim in the work.

The duly authorized agent of such author, other copyright claimant, or owner of exclusive right(s). Any person authorized to act on behalf of the author, other copyright claimant, or owner of exclusive rights may apply for registration.

There is no requirement that applications be prepared or filed by an attorney. Don’t throw away your money!

Mary Berghaus Levering, associate registrar for National Copyright Programs, says it currently takes between six and eight months to process copyright applications.

Before you publicly show or distribute your work, notice of copyright is required. The use of the copyright notice is your responsibility and does not need any special advance permission from or registration with the Copyright Office.

The notice for visually perceptible copies should contain these three elements:

You should affix the notice in such a way as to give it reasonable notice of the claim of copyright.

The Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act, signed into law on October 27, 1998, amended the provisions concerning duration of copyright protection and generally extended them for an additional 20 years. Specific provisions are as follows:

For works created after January 1, 1978, copyright protection will endure for the life of the author plus an additional 70 years. In the case of a joint work, the term lasts for 70 years after the last surviving author’s death. For anonymous and pseudonymous works and works made-for-hire, the term will be 95 years from the year of first publication or 120 years from the year of creation, whichever expires first.

For works created but not published or registered before January 1, 1978, the term endures for the life of the author plus 70 years, but in no case will expire earlier than December 31, 2002. If the work is published before December 31, 2002, the term will not expire before December 31, 2047.

For pre-1978 works still in their original or renewal term of copyright, the total term is extended to 95 years from the date that copyright was originally secured.

For further information, see Circular 15a or the Copyright Office’s website, www.loc.gov/copyright.

Several categories of material are generally not eligible for federal copyright protection. These include, among others …