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Copyright guide for self-published authors
In the United States and every Berne Convention country, copyright exists the moment your manuscript is saved. You do not need to file anything to publish. Registration with the US Copyright Office is a separate, optional step, and it is the step that decides what you can recover if someone copies your book.
Tell us where your book is. A specialist replies within one business day with the package that fits, including a correctly formatted copyright page and your ISBN.
The short answer
No. Under US law (Title 17) and the Berne Convention, your book is protected by copyright from the moment it is fixed in a tangible form, and you can publish without registering anything. Registration with the US Copyright Office costs $45 for a single-author Single Application online or $65 for a Standard Application, creates a public record of ownership, and is required before you can sue over a US work. Register before publication or within three months of it to keep statutory damages, up to $150,000 for willful infringement, and attorney’s fees available.
Prices checked October 27, 2026 · Reviewed by Gia Kahn, Lead Editor · Next review November 2026 · How we check
Is this you?
Authors delay publishing over a filing they do not need, and skip the one that matters.
Some hold the book back, believing it is unprotected until it is registered. Others pay a third-party service to “copyright” a book that was already copyrighted. And many never register at all, then discover after an infringement that without registration in time, the remedies they can claim are small and hard to prove.
The real picture is simple. Copyright is automatic. Registration is cheap, optional and done online in an afternoon. Its timing decides your remedies. And a correctly formatted copyright page, included in every book we publish, puts every reader on notice from page two.
Protected vs registered
Your book is protected either way. Registration changes what you can do about infringement.
| Automatic copyright | Registered copyright | |
|---|---|---|
| Exists | From the moment the work is fixed | Same, plus a public record of ownership |
| Needed to publish | Nothing to file | Not required to publish |
| Right to sue over a US work | Must register first | Yes |
| Statutory damages and attorney’s fees | Not available | Available if registered before infringement or within 3 months of publication |
| Cost | Free | $45 Single Application or $65 Standard Application, online |
Registered within five years of publication, the certificate also serves as evidence that your copyright is valid, which shifts the burden onto anyone who disputes it.
Get My Publishing PlanAutomatic protection
Under US copyright law (Title 17 of the US Code) and the Berne Convention, copyright in an original work exists from the moment it is fixed in a tangible form: the moment you save your manuscript. No registration, notice or symbol is needed for copyright to exist and be enforceable.
So your book is already protected. Someone who reproduces substantial portions of it without permission is infringing your copyright, whether or not you have registered or printed a notice. The Berne Convention covers virtually every country with a significant book market.
Registration
Registering with the US Copyright Office at copyright.gov creates a public record of ownership and, for a US work, is required before you can file an infringement suit. Most importantly, it decides your remedies: registered before the infringement began, or within three months of first publication, you can claim statutory damages (up to $150,000 per work for willful infringement) and attorney’s fees. Without that, you are limited to actual damages, which are often hard to quantify and may not cover the cost of litigation.
The practical advice: register before publication or within three months of it. The fee is small and the added protection is meaningful if infringement ever happens.
The copyright page
Every published book should carry a copyright page, usually the second or third page, stating the copyright symbol, the author’s name, the year of publication and “all rights reserved,” optionally with the ISBN, edition details and, for fiction, a disclaimer. The page is not required for copyright to exist, but it is the professional standard and puts every reader on immediate notice that the work is protected.
We include a correctly formatted copyright page in every book we publish as part of interior formatting.
Want the copyright page, ISBN and formatting handled together?
Get My Publishing PlanWhat it covers
Copyright protects the specific expression in your work: the words you wrote, in the order you wrote them. It does not protect the idea, the theme, the genre, a plot structure in general terms, or facts. Another author can write a novel about a school for wizards; they cannot reproduce the sentences JK Rowling wrote.
In the United States, copyright in a work by an individual author lasts for the author’s life plus 70 years. Different rules apply to some anonymous, corporate and pre-1978 works. For a book published by an individual author today, protection runs well beyond any commercially relevant horizon.
Publish with us
Each one formats a correct copyright page and assigns your ISBN, so the book is protected and identifiable from day one.
Edited already
$1,499
Custom cover, print and ebook formatting with a correct copyright page, ISBNs, and distribution in paperback, hardcover and ebook.
A protected, properly identified book on every major store in about a month, with the paperwork done right.
4 to 5 weeks
Get My Publishing PlanMost chosen
$2,499
Global Publish plus a full proofread and a dedicated project manager who handles every setup detail.
A clean, proofread book whose copyright page, ISBN and listings are checked by one person before launch.
7 to 9 weeks
Get My Publishing PlanUnedited draft
$4,999
Full Production plus a line-by-line copy edit, Amazon keyword and category research, an author website and a press release.
Your book edited, protected and set up to be found, with an author site that shows readers it is yours.
Production typically 4 to 9 weeks
Get My Publishing PlanWhat protects your book with us
Copyright registration with the US Copyright Office is filed in your own name; your specialist tells you what to submit and when.
What you can count on
How it runs
We’ve started with ISBN & copyright. Add anything else your manuscript needs, and a specialist sends an itemized quote within one business day. Free, confidential, no obligation.
Your quote within one business day. Nothing is charged until you approve it. 100% of your rights stay yours.
Questions
No. Copyright exists automatically from the moment the book is written. Registration with the US Copyright Office is optional and not required to publish, but it adds legal remedies if your work is ever copied.
It is already copyrighted. To register, create an account at copyright.gov and file online: the Single Application costs $45 and the Standard Application $65. Do it before publication or within three months after.
You still own the copyright. But to sue over a US work you must register first, and if you register after infringement begins and outside the three-month window, statutory damages and attorney’s fees are off the table.
No. An ISBN identifies an edition for retailers and libraries. It has nothing to do with ownership of the text.
For an individual author in the United States, the author’s life plus 70 years.
Registration is filed in your name as the owner. We include the copyright page in every book and tell you exactly what to submit and when.
Tell us where your manuscript stands. A specialist replies within one business day with the package and a clear price.
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