Registering for copyright protection can be especially difficult and expensive for modern writers. Rather than the old school model of publishing a single book, many independent writers now make a living publishing short pieces (think social media or blogs) in frequent bursts. Preparing a new copyright registration form — and paying a fee — every time you add a new post just isn’t realistic, but neither is leaving your livelihood open to getting ripped off. As I previously wrote, there are work-arounds involving group registrations, but those can be clunky and may not provide the full protection you’re seeking.
Thankfully, the Copyright Office continues to fight its way into the 21st century. Beginning next month, you can use a brand new application — the GRTX, or “Group Registration for Short Online Literary Works” – specifically to register collections of short, online writings. Using the new application authors will be able to register up to 50 posts using just one form and for a single, $65 application fee.
WHAT TYPES OF WORKS QUALIFY?
SHORT WORKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR
Because the new registration is designed for short works (it’s in the title), each post must contain between 50 and 17,500 words. Basically, the Copyright Office is trying to find a balance between works that are too short to qualify for copyright protection and self-published novellas that should be registered using a traditional application.
In keeping with the intent of helping independent writers, you also can’t use this new registration if the posts are works for hire. That may be an issue if you’ve set up an LLC or corporation for your business, but most independent authors can identify themselves as the author and then assign the rights to the entity. This issue may be complicated, however and could have ramifications for your entity or taxes, so it’s probably worth discussing with an attorney first.
Each of the posts also must have the exact same author or joint authors. So, for example, you can register 50 posts written by John or 50 posts co-written by John, Paul and George, but you can’t combine posts co-written by John, Paul, George and Ringo with posts that any of them wrote solo.
THREE MONTHS OF POSTS
While you can register up to 50 posts in one application, they all must have been originally published in the same three calendar months. Note that’s calendar months, which run from the first day of the first month to the last day of the last month (i.e., January 1 through March 31). Also, this can be any three month period, so you can finally go back and register all of your old posts, too, in three-month groups.
ONLINE POSTS ONLY
The new registration form is specifically intended for online works, which until now have mostly fallen through the cracks of the previous group applications designed for traditional media such as newspapers or magazines. So in order to qualify for the new application, each of the posts must have been originally published online. It’s OK if you also distribute via hard copy or email, as long as each work was distributed through those methods after or simultaneously with the online publication. If you publish behind a paywall (subscription, individual purchase, etc.), that’s OK too.
If you read my prior post, you may recall that the Copyright Office has been somewhat cagey about whether online distribution counts as publication. Essentially, they let you decide if free online works such as blogs are “published.” That hasn’t changed, but for purposes of this registration you need to take the position that the works are published. That’s usually not going to be an issue, since labeling a work as “published” has several advantages anyway, and previously the most common reason to call works “unpublished” was to try to fit into one of the other group registration methods.
TEXT ONLY
One other potential gotcha – the GRTX registration only covers text, not photographs or illustrations. That will limit its usefulness for things like Instragram posts. However, you’re allowed to combine the GRTX registration with the existing group registration for photos. Say you have 50 posts with photos and text, and you want to register everything. You can do one GRTX registration to cover the text (note in the application that you’re excluding the photos), and a group registration to cover the photos (note that you’re excluding the text). In fact, because a group photo registration can cover up to 750 photos published within the same year, you may be able to combine a single photo registration with four GRTX registrations (though it’s better if you do your registrations at least every 3 months rather than wait a whole year).
WHAT CAN’T BE REGISTERED
Because of these limitations, the GRTX application won’t cover everything you may be posting online. For example, you won’t be able to use it for:
· Podcasts
· YouTube videos
· Websites (the whole thing, not just posts or articles)
· Emails or email newsletters
· E-books longer than 17,500 words.
Emails may be particularly concerning if you primarily “post” via subscribed email blasts, but the Copyright Office has specifically banned emails from the GRTX application, so the best option is to “publish” on your website either first or simultaneously.
TIPS FOR PREPARING THE GRTX APPLICATION
The new application form itself isn’t out yet, but the Copyright Office already provided some instructions for completing the process. Because the process is still new, you should be very careful about following all instructions.
The GRTX application will only be available through electronic registration (no paper applications), so if you don’t have a login yet for the Copyright Office’s eCo system, you’ll need to get one (it’s free).
As part of the application, you’ll need to provide a list of the works, including each of their titles, publication dates and word counts, which you can get from a word processing program. Although you can prepare your own list ahead of time, the Copyright Office is including a fillable form as part of the application that will automatically check for common errors, like word counts that are too high or too low, or publication dates that span more than three months. If you’re at all unsure about the process, you probably want to use that fillable form, at least the first couple of times.
If you create your own list, make sure that it includes everything required, and that the filename of the list contains both the title of your group of works (which must match the title you put on the application) and the case number you’re assigned when you start the application. That will be automatically generated and listed at the top of the online application once you’ve started. If your title has a character that can’t be used in a filename, either leave it out or spell it out (i.e., $ becomes “dollarsign.”)
You’ll also need to provide an electronic copy of each of the works on the list, and there are some specific requirements for that as well. Each post needs to be its own digital file (PDF, preferably) with a filename matching its individual title on your list. This does not have to be a screenshot — in fact, it’s better if it isn’t. Since you’re only registering the text, the Copyright Office doesn’t care how the post looks. Just cut and paste the text of the post into a new PDF or Word document. You’ll then upload a single ZIP file that contains all of the works and the list – don’t upload each file individually.
As mentioned above, you can’t use the GRTX application if you write as a work for hire, but you can transfer your works to an entity after the fact. However, even if you do that, ignore the transfer for purposes of the application. The Copyright Office wants the copyright claimant (i.e., the owner) to be the same as the author (i.e., the person who actually wrote the post) when you fill out the form. So list the author(s) as the claimant(s) for now, and if need be, record a transfer of the copyright separately.
One final issue unique to blog posts – if your post includes comments, you have to note on the application that you are disclaiming the comments by others. You can include your own replies as part of the work, as long as you don’t exceed the word count.
NO MORE EXCUSES
If you’re trying to make a living as an online blogger or writer, your work is your business, and you should be protecting it. Using the GRTX application, even fairly prolific authors can now get all of the advantages of copyright registration with a single application filed once a quarter. You absolutely should consider making copyright registrations a part of your regular routine. And maybe register your old materials while you’re at it.