Windermere, FL asked in Copyright for Florida

Q: a book I published, the publisher charged me to get it copyrighted. Another publisher said that its illegal.

I had a book published through a publisher and they charged me to get the copyright. Then when I went to another publisher for a second book and they said the first publisher couldn't do that, that it was illegal.

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1 Lawyer Answer
Fritz-Howard Raymond Clapp
Fritz-Howard Raymond Clapp
Answered
  • Intellectual Property Lawyer
  • Beverly Hills, CA

A: Most likely you agreed to terms of a contract with the first publisher that enabled it to charge this, which is predatory. Registering the copyright in a book is a trivial expense (copyright office electronic filing: single author, same claimant, one work, not for hire, $45) and generally is just absorbed by a reputable publisher as an administrative expense.

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