Here’s What You Need to Know About Copyright Protection For What You Write

You immediately own the written works you produce (e.g. resumes, articles, blog posts, books, and so on), unless you give express permission or ownership to another for use of said works.

A common misconception relating to copyright law is that protection from the U.S. Copyright Office is required to protect smaller certain works … including resumes.

This is simply not true. Authors, including resume writers, immediately own the copyright to what we write.

Does ownership transfer once we deliver the finished resume to our clients?

The answer is “no,” unless you expressly state within your contract agreement (agreed to and signed by the client) that copyright ownership is transferred to the client, and that you (the resume writer) no longer hold ownership.

To avoid confusion with clients, adding a snippet to your client contract is ideal. Here’s a sample clause pulled from the Contract Terms For Resume Writers post:

Written content is copyrighted by [your name], therefore, the client has limited rights to the final document so written content cannot be given away, transferred, or used in any media without written consent from the author.

Protection For Book Authors

According to copyright laws, ownership of written works must be legally transferred or copyright protection cannot be enforced.

This scenario applies more to self-published works and less about written works where a publisher was used.

For example, books written by Wendy Enelow or Louise Kursmark are published through a publisher; e.g. Wiley.

Wiley OWNS the copyright (or rights to use) the content that Wendy & Louise have written.

They likely own those written works until the end of time. 😉

The challenge arises for authors who have self-written works.

For example, take into consideration an author with a self-published book passes away.

The author (or a representative) no longer has rights those self-published works. We’re seeing this more in play as free online libraries continue to publish works written by deceased authors, including Henry Ford and Sun Tzu.

Their books — in entirety — are displayed online for the world to read and distribute.

The copyright office does come into play for …

… today’s writers who want to protect their work on a more official level, specifically for larger written works such as books.

How to Submit Your Book to The US Copyright Office

Simply visit https://www.loc.gov/copyright for fee details and submission requirements.

The process isn’t complicated or overly expensive.

Here’s a Much Cheaper Copyrighting Alternative

If you’re seeking a kind of “poor man’s” alternative as a way of proving ownership to your works. Keep and eventually mail finished drafts of your material. The sealed envelope serves as a “safety deposit box” for your publication and provides a date of shipment on the face.

Upon receipt, leave the package sealed and stored in a safe place to avoid stress on the envelope or packaging.

Should a copyright issue and lawsuit arise, these sealed envelopes can offer some validity to your claim of content ownership. Be sure that you or your attorney doesn’t open the envelope. That should be done by the presiding judge.

Disclaimer: Although highly written about online, there is some question as to the validity of this method. We recommend that you register your works with the US Copyright Office to avoid possible litigation down the road.