Copyright Filing

 A lot of people search the web looking for "how to file a copyright online."  The reality is that there is no actual online form for filing a copyright.  The trademark office does use online filing, but the Library of Congress does not.  If you are going to file a copyright, you need to either do it with the two page form from the Library of Congress (aka the U.S. Copyright Office) by filling out the appropriate form, or you need to use an "online filing service" that allows you to input your information online (such services ultimately fill out the paper forms for you).

The forms typically used are as follows:

Form TX for primarily text works

Form VA for visual arts

Form PA for performing arts

Form SR for sound recordings

These forms are required if you are going to register a copyright.  However, if you have created an original work of authorship and it is "fixed in tangible form" then you technically already own the "copyrights" in the work.  Here is the problem: if you do not have a registration then you cannot sue to enforce your copyrights.  Thus, you are not truly protected legally until you have a copyright application filed.  Moreover, if you do not file a copyright application within five years of the date that you first published the original work, you will not be able to obtain a registration.  The Copyright Office will not register a work that has been in the public for over five years. 

Ultimately, what most starving artists do is use a copyright notice (Copyright 2006 (c) all rights reserved Dana Robinson), but don't actually file an application until the work has proved whether or not it is worthy of registration.  For example, I have created a website that is complete and original, but is it commercially viable?  Should I bother to register the work yet?  I have a five year period to think about this.  I can even wait until there is a copyright infringement before I file the copyright application.  But, if I wait to file the copyright application until there is an infringement, I will probably have a harder time obtaining damages and attorney's fees from the infringer.  If I want the "most and best" protection and the right to seek statutory damages and attorney's fees from infringers, I need to register sooner instead of waiting for a problem to arise.

For an attorney to file a copyright, why not use my service?  You can pay online with Google Checkout, and then email me the relevant information: http://www.danarobinson.com/flat-services.php?id=2

Or, if you simply want the cheapest way to get a copyright filed through a "paralegal" style service (no legal advice) you can use FileOnline.biz (www.fileonline.biz) and pay less by avoiding attorney's fees.