
Simply put, as soon as you turn your idea of a literary work into something of a tangible form, you should immediately look into the ways of legally protecting it. You may be surprised at just how quickly the wrongful duplication of your original idea can spread, especially in today’s world of modern technology. Primarily, it is in your best interest to apply for copyright protection with the United States Copyright Office. With that being said, please follow along to find out how to earn copyright protection rights over your literary works and how a proficient New Jersey copyright lawyer at The Ingber Law Firm can work to ensure this is ironclad protection.
What are examples of literary works that are eligible for copyright protection?
As for its general definition, a literary work is a creative expression through written or recorded words, numbers, or other symbols, intended to convey a certain subject, idea, or theme. More specifically, such works are created and fixed in tangible form, such as written on paper or saved in a digital file. With this, they are meant to be read in front of an audience, rather than performed. That said, below is a list of literary work types that may be eligible for copyright protection, according to the Copyright Law of the United States:
- Fiction and nonfiction books.
- Short stories, essays, and poetry.
- Articles and blogs.
- Textbooks and reference works.
- Directories and catalogs.
- Advertising copy.
- Compilations of information.
- Computer programs and databases.
How can I earn copyright protection rights over my literary works?
If you are the owner of a creative or original literary work, it is highly advisable to officially register it with the United States Copyright Office. With this official registration, you may earn these five fundamental and exclusive rights:
- The right to reproduce the copyrighted work in copies or phonorecords.
- The right to prepare derivative works based upon the copyrighted work.
- The right to distribute copies or phonorecords of the copyrighted work.
- The right to perform the copyrighted work publicly.
- The right to display the copyrighted work publicly.
This is all to say that formally registering your literary work may be especially pivotal if you intend to reproduce, distribute, perform, or display such work rather widely. A main incentive to this is, as a copyright owner, you may have a stronger position in court, should there ever come a time when you need to dispute the ownership over or infringement of the literary work. Specifically, you may hold the legal grounds to demand statutory damages, seek lawyer’s fees, and overall, stop the unauthorized use of your creative or original work without rightful acknowledgment or payment.
We advise you to reach out to a talented Essex County, New Jersey intellectual property lawyer sooner rather than later. We are confident that you will not regret retaining the services of our team at The Ingber Law Firm.