How to Copyright a Poster
If you have a poster that you have created that is an entirely original work, you can copyright that posted with the United States Copyright Office. Technically, a poster is copyrighted as soon as it is created; however, to have full legal protection you will need to formally copyright the poster with the U.S. Copyright Office. Copyrighting a poster consists of filling out a form, paying a fee and submitting a copy of the actual poster to the US Copyright Office. It is a fairly simple process to copyright a poster in the U.S.
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Instructions
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Select online or offline registration. You can copyright a poster using the online system on the U.S. Copyright Office website (see Resources) or by mailing in form CO2 to the U.S. Copyright Office. The online system is exactly the same as form CO2. Copyrighting a posted online is cheaper than mailing the form in; however, you will still need to mail the U.S. Copyright Office a copy of the poster.
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Describe the work. The first part of the copyright form asks for information about the work. Select "Visual Arts Work" for the poster and enter any information about its title. Also list the year the poster was published and the nation it was published in. There are other areas that you can leave blank, such as the ISBN section which is for books that are being copyrighted. Leave blank anything that does not apply to the poster.
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Give information on the creator. The next section of the form is the "Author Information," which is where the artist information will go. You will need to list the artist name, year of birth, if the artist is a U.S. citizen, if the poster was done under a pseudonym. Select 2-dimensional artwork for the poster.
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Enter copyright claimant information and contact details. The third section is for information about the copyright claimant, which may be the artist of the poster. Give the name and address of the copyright claimant. Check if there is any material excluded for the claim for the fourth section. Part 5 is where you will list the details of the rights and permissions contact for the poster. This is needed in the event that someone wants to reproduce the poster with your permission so that they will know who to contact. Part 6 of the form is for the details of the correspondence contact. This is needed in the event that the U.S. Copyright Office needs to contact someone about the poster.
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Elect where the copyright certificate gets mailed to. Part 7 of the form asks for the name and address that the copyright certificate for the poster should be mailed to. Enter where you want it to go.
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Sign and date the form. The last section of the form is where you will sign and date the form. Be sure not to overlook this section as it will delay your copyright certificate.
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Pay the fee. There is a fee to copyright your poster with the U.S. Copyright Office. If you are filing your copyright online, the 2009 fee is $35. The 2009 fee for copyrighting a poster by mail is $45. For forms that you are mailing, you will need to include your payment with the form and mail both items to the address on the form.
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Send a copy of your poster to the U.S. Copyright Office. After submitting your copyright form and fee to the U.S. Copyright Office you will also need to mail them a copy of the actual poster. You will not get the poster back, so be sure that you do not send your only copy. Mail a copy of your poster to: Library of Congress, U.S. Copyright Office, 101 Independence Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20559-6211.
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