Copyright or the author’s right is a specific legal term used to protect the rights of the owner over any creative, literary, and artistic work. Copyright covers a wide variety of artistic works including books, music, paintings, sculpture, films, poetry, and all kinds of technical innovations and works. For a poet, each poem is special and it involves his/her hard work. Many poets make a living with their poetry and copyrighting poems can provide their poems with complete legal protection. Let’s know How To Copyright A Poem?
What Is Poem Copyright?
The poem is one of the most widely popular and universally accepted literary works and can be protected under copyright law. Copyrighting poetry helps poets to protect their creative works. The copyright law provides creators/poets with exclusive rights over their literary/artistic works such as drama, music, artistic, cinematographic films, arts, and poetry.
What Are The Essential Documents Required For Poem Copyright?
If you are a poet and you would like to copyright your poetry, there are certain documents that you need to submit for successful poetry copyright registration:
- A poet must submit his/her ID proof comprising the name, address, and nationality.
- If the poetry or poem of the poet is published somewhere, the poet must also need the NOC or no objection certificate from that publisher.
- The poet must also obtain the search certificate or form TM-60 from the trademark office.
- If there is any photograph of any person appearing in the literary work, the poet must need to submit the NOC of that person.
- He/she must also need to submit the power of attorney for poem copyright registration.
- The poet must also need to submit 2 copies of his/her work.
- The poet or author should also submit his/her KYC form to obtain the poem copyright.
- If the work is not published by the same author, the creator must also furnish the NOC or no objection certificate from the original author.
What Is The Process Involved In Poem Copyright Registration?
A poet or creator should follow a detailed copyright registration process for his/her poem. The process is as follows:
- Take Professional Consultation From A Copyright Expert:
The poet who is willing to copyright his/her poetic work must discuss with a copyright expert the different categories of copyright registration. The copyright attorney will also guide that poet regarding the filling of the copyright application.
- Filling The Application:
The applicants need to file an application for the copyright of their literary work or poetry along with the requisite fees. It is important to note that the application needs to be submitted in the form of DD or IPO. After applying, a diary number will be generated and issued to the applicant.
- Examination Of The Application:
Once the copyright application is filed, the applicants need to wait for at least 30 days to get any decision from the authorities. The authority needs this much time to record and analyze any objections that may arise against the copyright application. If there is no objection from anyone, the application goes smoothly to an examiner who would scrutinize the application thoroughly to find any kind of discrepancies on the application.
In case any discrepancy arises during the scrutiny, a letter is sent to the applicant notifying the discrepancy. Zero discrepancies mean the copyright application for the poem is fulfilling all criteria and the applicant is ready to go ahead with the registration of the same.
- If Any Objection Arises:
In case of any objection arises during the recording and scrutinizing, the authorities send out letters to the applicant and the concerned party, providing them with an opportunity to resolve the objection mutually. After hearing replies from the concerned parties, the registrar conducts a hearing. The registrar may reject the objection and accept the copyright application.
- Registrations:
The copyright registration solely depends upon the decisions and judgments of the registrar. Once everything is cleared from the end of the registrar, the applicant becomes eligible for receiving the copyright title for the poetry. The applicant is also eligible to exercise or practice all rights as the owner of the copyright.
Bottom Line:
Copyright registration is one of the most effective forms of intellectual property law or IP law. With the help of this IP law, a creator or poet can easily protect his/her original piece of work such as music, art, literature, paintings, movies, cinematography, poetry, and all kinds of technological innovations and computer programs. There are specific categories available for copyright registration and the creators must consult with an experienced copyright expert before starting the application for the copyright. Creators can get an exclusive and complete right over their creation through copyright registration. This legal protection is beneficial for the creators of original work.
