US Copyright Registration 

Essentials of copyright registration

In accordance with the US Copyright Act, the terms of protection are as follows in general:

A copyright work that was created on or after 1st January 1978, the term of protection is from the work is created and the lifetime of the author plus an additional 70 years after his death.  In the case of a work of joint authorship, such term shall last for 70 years after the death of the last surviving author.

For words made for hire, and for anonymous works, the duration of copyright will be 95 years from publication or 120 years from creation, which is shorter.

Required documents:

1.  Copyright registration application form;

2.  A brief description of the copyright work;

3.  A copy of business registration of the copyright claimant (or a copy of identity certificate [for a natural person]); and a copy of an author’s identity certificate;

4.  A sample of the work (2 copies);

5.  Other supplementary documents (depends on the different nature of the copyright works)