How to Register a Software Copyright
Any software application that you create is automatically given copyright protection under United States copyright law. Registering your software's copyright provides greater legal protection for your work and raises the limits you can claim in court for actual damages. Owners of registered copyrights can also seek punitive damages against parties that violate the copyright.
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Instructions
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eCO submission
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1
Visit the U.S. Copyright Office's eCO system (see the link in the Resource section below), setting up a login name and password. Electronically filing your claim is the cheapest and most quickly processed method to submit your copyright claim.
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2
In the "Author Created" field, provide a brief description of your work, such as "software program" or "online application."
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3
In the "Year of Completion" field, enter the year in which you finished the work.
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Use the "Limitation of Claim" field if the application employs previously published work. This includes work in the public domain, common subroutines or text and images.
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Submit the first 25 pages and last 25 pages of the application's source code to fulfill the deposit requirement. Alternatively, hard copy deposits of legible source code can be mailed to: Library of Congress, U.S. Copyright Office-TX, 101 Independence Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20559-6222.
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References
Resources
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