How to Know If Something is Copyrighted
A copyright is a type of legal protection afforded to authors of original works of drama, literature, art and music. For example, copyrights protects books, songs, plays, poems, stories, software, movies and architecture. If you wish, you may register your work with the U.S. Copyright Office. This allows others to search for the work to determine if it has been copyrighted. Although you are not required to register your original work, if you do not, you cannot bring a lawsuit for infringement of that copyright.
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Instructions
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Navigate to the U.S. Copyright Office website.
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Click "Search the Catalog". On the following page, you can search by title, name, keyword, registration number, document number or command keyword. You can also perform an advanced search under "Other Search Options". Type the name of the work or other keyword into the text field. Click "Begin Search". A listing of copyrighted works will appear on the next page. Click the title of the work to view more information.
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Contact the Records Research and Certification Section of the U.S. Copyright Office if you believe the original work may be copyrighted prior to Jan. 1, 1978. The online catalog only has copyrighted works listed from 1978 to the present. The U.S. Copyright Office will perform a manual search for you at a rate of $150 per hour, as of 2010. The office will provide a report on the search upon completion. An expedited search costs $400 per hour, as of 2010.
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Tips & Warnings
If a work has not been registered with the U.S. Copyright Office, it is not possible to determine if a work has been copyrighted without contacting the author. Though you will not risk a lawsuit if it is not registered with the U.S. Copyright Office.
Copyright protection attaches upon the creation of the work and is not dependent upon registration.
