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How to File for a Copyright

Although copyright is automatically given to the creator of an original work, copyright registration establishes a public claim making it easier to prove ownership.


Step 1

Determine the type of work that you wish to copyright: Works can include musical composition, visual art, book, recipe, multimedia work, etc. Visit the U.S. Copyright Office website to determine the exact category under which your work falls before requesting an application.

Step 2

Contact the U.S. Copyright Office in Washington D.C. to request an application.

Step 3

Fill out the application.

Step 4

Mail the original application along with a $20 filing fee and a copy of the work to be filed in the Library of Congress.

Step 5

You will usually receive a certificate of registration within 6 months.

Tips & Warnings

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Only the expression of an idea or concept is protected under copyright law, not the idea or concept itself.
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Copyright protection lasts for the lifetime of the author, plus 70 years.
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You cannot copyright a name, including the name of a band.
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Make sure to use the appropriate copyright symbol on all publicly distributed copies of your work or you will effectively lose your exclusive right to sell, reproduce and display your work in public. Visit the Copyright Office website to find the right symbol. Read More ..

Yahoo!, Overture Debut New Paid Inclusion Program

Yahoo and Overture Tuesday unveiled the paid inclusion search marketing program that will take the place of those run by its Inktomi, AltaVista and AlltheWeb properties.

The debut comes in the wake of Yahoo's launch of its own algorithmic search engine last week and continues the company's consolidation of its search operations. Many of the changes have been widely expected given the Yahoo's recent acquisitions, which left it with several search engines, each with its own paid inclusion program.

Paid inclusion lets Web site owners submit information about their pages to search engines. They're guaranteed inclusion in the search engine's index, but aren't given any assurances regarding how their pages will be ranked.

The new program, known as the Content Acquisition Program (CAP), will be run by Yahoo's Overture unit. It will give bigger paid inclusion marketers, along with non-profit content providers, a closer working relationship with the search engine, the company said. For smaller marketers -- those with fewer than 1,000 URLs -- it will be largely similar to those previously offered. However customers now must pay on a cost-per-click basis, in addition to paying a flat fee.

"Revenue is certainly a component of this," explained Chris Bolte, vice president of strategic alliances at Overture, "but it's not the driver." Creating a comprehensive, relevant index with less search engine spam is the main goal, Bolte said.

Distribution will include Yahoo's own network, partner MSN, and other affiliate sites. The company says it will reach 75 percent of Web searchers.

The new program for larger marketers is called Site Match Xchange. Marketers, or their agencies, create an XML feed that includes information about the various pages on their sites. They then pay on a per-click basis, with the price varying depending on the content category.

What they get is guaranteed inclusion, listings refreshed every 48 hours, and hand-holding from Overture. The company feels one of the main value propositions of the new service is its "open kimono" stance. This means Overture will provide clients with feedback on their XML feeds, to help them better their rank for relevant keywords.

"Together, we can actually better produce better results," said Bolte.

Although the company didn't say how much manpower would be dedicated to administering the new program, staff from both Overture and Yahoo will be employed.

For smaller marketers, the self-service portion of the program is called Site Match. For the first URL, marketers pay $49 annually, and will now pay per click for the first time. Yahoo says marketers in most content categories will pay $0.15 per click, but some select categories are priced at $0.30 per click. While paying more might rankle smaller search engine marketers, company executives argue it's cheaper than buying Inktomi, AlltheWeb and AltaVista separately. They also say per-click pricing aligns marketers' interests with those of consumers, because it will encourage them to seek only qualified, therefore relevant, clicks.

Overture and Yahoo are working to transition their current user base over to the new paid inclusion program. They've also been cultivating relationships with non-profit content providers, including National Public Radio, the Library of Congress, and Project Gutenberg. These entities will get the same treatment as Site Match Xchange clients, but they won't be required to pay. The emphasis on non-profits is aimed at increasing the variety of content available in Yahoo's index, the company said. It also may help Yahoo fend off concerns that paying clients get better treatment, or better rankings, than those who don't pay.

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Creative Cost-Cutting Tactics For Small Biz

How to pinch pennies until they wail.

In Pictures: Creative Cost-Cutting Tactics For Small Biz

With credit locked up and consumers on the sidelines, small businesses should be sleuthing for any and all ways to shave expenses. Chopping heads only gets you so far--slice into muscle and you may be too hobbled to ride the rebound.

"Many think that the next step is to eliminate head count, but they will almost certainly be late when recovery comes," says Ken Hagerstrom, chief executive of Carlsbad, Calif.-based consultancy Expense Reduction Analysts.

With that in mind, we canvassed small business owners and consultants across the country to root out a host of creative cost-cutting techniques.
In Pictures: 14 Creative Ways To Keep Costs Down

Serious cost cutting means looking everywhere--even at the very packages that you send through the mail. Aaron Rubin, chief executive of karatedepot.com, an online karate-equipment retailer, cut costs by switching from the free boxes used by the United States Postal Service to lighter, bubble protected plastic envelopes. While he has to pay for the envelopes, the difference in weight is so significant that it costs him less than using the free boxes.

"If you get a package down from one pound, one ounce to less than one pound, the saving for priority mail is over $3 per package," says Rubin.

Sharing office space can save more than a few bucks. Tyler Jorgenson, a real estate broker in Chino, Calif., recently renegotiated his lease to include a provision for subleasing. He's now renting out 65% of his location and charging two tenants enough to cover his entire rent. One of the conditions of the deal is that Jorgenson pays for the utilities and Internet connection for the whole office (which he would have to do anyway if he didn't have tenants).

Sometimes you have to lie down with competitors for survival. Group-purchasing organizations like the Council of Small Business Enterprise in Cleveland negotiates on behalf of nearly 17,000 members to get better deals on everything from employee benefit programs to office supplies. Buying in bulk lowers everyone's rates.

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If after preliminary layoffs your payroll is still weighing you down, consider turning your line workers into entrepreneurs.

Say your firm writes software. Instead of chopping overhead by chopping heads, let each of the developers take charge of their own product while you take a stake in their efforts. In lieu of a salary, offer them partial support (in terms of marketing, product testing and health benefits) to build out their slice of the business and, with any luck, substantially increase their wealth. If all goes well, everyone wins.

Don't forget to crack open your information technology expenses. You could pay $15 a month for conference-calling services offered by the likes of AccuConference, which allows an unlimited number of callers to convene for up to 10 hours per call. For that price, you get special features like the ability to poll participants during the call and, if they have a computer nearby, real-time viewing of Power Point presentations.

Or you could pay nothing at the slightly stripped-down freeconferencecall.com, which allows up to 96 callers to have a maximum six-hour conference call. You can call in by phone or computer; record and reply to the call and share it by RSS feed or podcast. Cost: only your usual long distance fees.

Cash-strapped manufacturers and other businesses with significant hard assets should take advantage of Section 179 of the United States Internal Revenue Tax Code. This provision allows deductions for "tangible" assets such as property and equipment.

In 2007, the maximum deduction was just $125,000, but for 2008 and 2009, the IRS raised the amount to $250,000. If you're thinking of buying, say, a new truck and want that deduction, do it within the next year because the maximum deduction will drop back down to $125,000 in 2010. (For a complete description of property eligible for Section 179 deductions, click here.)

Short on cash to cover year-end bonuses? Offer a few extra paid vacation days for the coming year instead. That way, you can still compensate employees for hours they didn't work, but you don't have to lay out all that cash in one shot.

This one may be a tough sell during the holidays--but, hey, it's worth a shot.
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