**This short guide will show you how to register your copyrights with the U.S. Copyright Office using Cosynd. Before you can use this guide, you will need to sign up for Cosynd here. Then, log in here.**
You can use Cosynd to register just one copyright or a collection of copyrights (like an album) with only one application if the authors, owners, their roles, and the publishing information are identical across all of the titles. Otherwise, you will need to create separate applications for each title. If you need additional help figuring out how many applications you may need to file, click here to use our application calculator.
To view the benefits of registering works with the Copyright Office, scroll to the bottom of this post.
1) Click on the "Register Your Copyrights" button to begin your application.
This is located on your Cosynd dashboard.
2) Select the type of work that you are registering.
Read more about copyrights:
- What is a joint work?
- What works can be protected by copyright?
- What are the rights of a copyright holder?
3) Select an option from the drop-down menu to narrow down the type of copyright that you are registering:
4) Tell us how many copyrights you are registering.
You should only register multiple copyrights using one application if all of the following are true.
- The copyrights are part of a collection (such as an album of songs).
- The authors and claimants of each copyright are identical.
- The roles of each author are identical across all copyrights.
- The publication information is identical across all copyrights.
Read more:
- How do I register a copyright that is part of a larger collection/series?
- Can I register a copyright that is not listed in my Cosynd account?
5) Tell us more about the title(s) that you are registering, such as whether or not the title(s) belong to a larger collection (like an album), if there are alternate titles, etc.
6) Enter information about the release date of the copyright. Note, you can only register up to 10 unreleased copyrights per application.
Read more:
- What does "published" mean?
- What does "date of first publication" mean?
- What does "nation of first publication" mean?
- What is an ISBN?
- What is an ISRC?
- What is an ISSN?
- What is a pre-registration number?
7) Select all of the titles from your profile that you want to register by clicking on "Select". If you are registering a copyright not currently in your Cosynd profile, check the box marked
8) Provide information for each author of the copyright(s).
If you are registering a copyright that is not currently part of your Cosynd profile, you will need to provide complete information for each author. If you are registering copyrights from your Cosynd profile, the information we have for all of the authors will transfer to your registration application. You will simply need to provide the citizenship/domicile information for each author and confirm their contribution.
IIf the author contributed under a "work for hire agreement", the Organization that paid that author should be listed here in the Organization box and you should answer "yes" to the work for hire question.
Carefully review and verify the information that you provide about the authors. This information will be used as-is for your application.
Don't worry, the information you provide here will not affect the information that was used for your Cosynd agreements.
If you need to add additional authors you can do so by clicking "+Add Another."
Read more about authors:
- What does "contribution" mean?
- What is a "pseudonym?"
- What is the difference between "citizenship" and "domicile?"
- Can I register my works under my company name?
9) Provide information for each owner (claimant) of the copyright.
A claimant is an owner of a copyright, such an author or person that acquired ownership by some other means. Each author you added in the previous screen will transfer to the claimant screen. You will need to confirm or edit their contact information. Carefully review and verify the information that you provide about the claimants. This information will be used as-is for your application.
If the claimant is an organization, enter the company name within the organization box.
A person operating under a "work for hire" scenario should not be listed as a claimant.
Don't worry, the information you provide here will not affect the information used for your Cosynd agreements.
If you need to add another claimant, you can do so by clicking on "+Add Another."
Read more about claimants:
10) Tell us if there is any pre-existing content in any of the copyrights you want to register that was not created by you and your collaborators.
If you select "Yes" in this section, Cosynd will ask you to identify the content that you and your collaborators did not create in Step 11.
Read more:
11) If you answered "yes" in step 10, you will be asked to identify the parts of your copyrights that you and your collaborators did not create.
In the first section, tell us what parts of your registration were not created by you or your collaborators. These parts will be notated on your registration as material that should be excluded from the actual claim. In the second section, you can list pre-registrations numbers, if you've used the Copyright Office's pre-registration service. In the last section, tell us what parts of your registration you and your collaborators did create. These parts will be notated on your registration as material that should be included in the actual claim.
Read more:
12) List yourself or someone else as the authorized agent.
An authorized agent is a person who may be contacted regarding your copyright and should be someone who has an interest in the copyright.
Read more about authorized agents:
13) Tell us where your registration certificate should be mailed to.
14) Review the details of your registration.
Click on Preview () to review all of the details you have entered for your registration. This is the last chance you have to review your registration before finalizing it. If a change needs to be made, use the in-app back button (
) to navigate back to that section. Do NOT use your browser's back button.
15) Pay for your registration.
16) Upload your copyrights to us.
When you arrive at the Upload section of the registration process, follow these directions to upload your copyrights to complete your application:
- Click “Upload.”
- Select “Choose File” and upload a zip file containing your copyrights or a text file that contains a link to download your copyrights. NOTE - Do NOT submit a link that has an expiration date or a link to purchase the copyrights.
- Wait for the notification that your upload was successful.
- Check the box below and click “Next” to complete your application.
What are the Benefits of Registering Your Works with the U.S. Copyright Office?
Copyright owners that rely on “poor man’s” copyright are not granted the same protections and rights of owners that registered with the Copyright Office. For example, you can't sue someone that's infringing on your work without first registering with the Copyright Office.
Copyright protection exists automatically upon fixation of the work. However, there are a number of benefits to having your content registered with the U.S. Copyright Office:
- You receive a certificate of registration.
- Before an infringement suit may be filed in court, registration is necessary for works of U.S. origin.
- By registering your content, you may be eligible to collect statutory damages (up to $150,000 per infringement) and attorney's fees from litigation.
- There is a public record of your ownership, your collaborators’ ownership, and the other relevant details of your content.
- If registration occurs within 5 years of the publication of your content, your registration is considered prima facie evidence in a court of law.
- You can record the registration with the U.S. Customs Service for protection against the importation of infringing copies.
Read more about finalizing your registration:
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