Producer Handbook: Copyright Registration & Information Online

Copyright Registration
Copyright is defined in Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary as “the exclusive legal right to reproduce, publish, and sell the matter and form of a literary, musical or artistic work.” Registering your program with the Copyright Office at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. allows a public record of your registration to be maintained. In the event of a copyright infringement, timely registration may provide a broader range of remedies and is, in fact, required before any suit may be filed (if the work is of U.S. origin).

Copyright in audio-visual works such as motion pictures or video recordings are automatically secured when the work is created and “fixed” in a copy. NAPT requires producers to register the copyright in the program as well as end it with a notice of copyright.

Registering your program is not a complicated process. It may take some time before you receive your certificate of registration. You must send the following to the Copyright Office:

1. A signed completed application for copyright, Form PA.
2. A Beta SP video copy of your program. The copyright office used to accept a VHS tape of the finished program (2 copies if published—e.g. commercially available for home video). They have recently been requesting a Beta SP tape as the "best edition"of the program. This means you will need to budget accordingly.
3. A separate written description of the content of your program (the storyline summary that you provided NAPT as a final deliverable is sufficient)
4. A non-refundable filing fee of $30.00 for each application (check or money order) payable to the Register of Copyrights.
5. Mail your completed application package with payment to:

Library of Congress
Copyright Office
101 Independence Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20559-6000

The effective date of registration is the date the Copyright Office receives all of the above required items. *Please note: it can take up to five months for the Copyright Office to process your application and return the certificate of registration to you. You can use a copyright expediter; it will cost around $580 and you get the certificate of registration in a week. The Screen Actors Guild may require a certificate of registration for a screenplay necessitating an expedited turnaround.

*Click here for Copyright Registration Online.

• Copyright Information Online (PDF)
• Form PA (PDF) registration of published or unpublished works of the performing arts.
• Instructions for Form PA (PDF).
• Circular 3 (PDF) copyright notice is no longer required under U.S. law, although it is often beneficial.
• Circular 15A (PDF) duration of copyright provides a general summary of the statutory provisions dealing with duration of copyright under the Copyright Act of 1976.
• Circular 15t (PDF) extension of copyright terms informs you of the provisions in the copyright statute affecting the duration of subsisting copyrights and give you some information with examples illustrating what these provisions mean.
• Circular 40 (PDF) copyright registraion for Works of the Visual Arts.
• Circular 45 (PDF) copyright registration for Motion Pictures Including Video Recordings. Copyright in a motion picture is automatically secured when the work is created and "fixed" in a copy.