What types of changes to a book warrant a new copyright application
- February 1, 2009 @ 3:06pmlibrarybook says:What are the types of corrections/changes to a self-published book by the copyright holder/author are allowed (if any) that will not interfere with the validity of the existing copyright registration (currently being processed by copyright office)?
For example, if the book is a book of short stories and two of the stories are contained within the actual printed book, but were just left out of the table of contents, would it invalidate the copyright/copyright registration if the book's TOC was updated to accurately reflect the contents of the book?
Does a second copyright application need to be filed even though the application itself would have the same information and the first is still in-process at the copyright office? If so, how would first be told apart from the second since copyright year and published date/ISBN (according to the publisher) would remain the same? Can the corrected book just be sent to the copyright office using the original / first registration number? Can the book's TOC just be corrected without any further interaction with the copyright office or would that cause problems down the road if infringement issues arise?
Basically, I really just want to replace the incorrect copies of the book on file at the copyright office with the corrected copies of the book.
How should this situation be handled?
Thanks! - April 9, 2009 @ 3:28pmFreya Anderson says:It seems to me that this type of detailed procedural question might be better answered by US Copyright Office staff (find their contact info at http://www.copyright.gov/help/) or by an intellectual property lawyer. It might help to remember, though, that your book is copyrighted as soon as it is in a fixed format, so you have at least some protection while you figure this out. Good luck!
- April 23, 2009 @ 9:45amwilliamsonl says:I agree with Freya's answer--this is a question for the copyright office. But as an opinion, I doubt seriously that a change to the TOC would change the original copyright in anyway. I wouldn't even think it's necessary to change out copies, although you may want to just for your own satisfaction.
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