Registering SEO Articles with the Library of Congress

Registering articles written on a bi-weekly basis

[rustybrick]

I try to write a new SEO related article every 2 to 3 weeks and I am interested in registering them with the Library of Congress.

The question is, there are so many different forms and methods to register them. I am pretty sure in need the TX form, but at $30 a pop and two articles every month, that is $720 per year.

Is there a cheaper way to do this?

Is it necessary or recommended?

Thanks!

[Brett_Tabke]

Not that I am aware of. I know it bites...

[rustybrick]

Well thank you.

Does anyone have experience registering articles with the LOC?

[mgream]

What are you trying to achieve in registering them with the LOC? It's not necessary to do this to obtain copyright, although it seems that registration is still necessary (or highly desirable? I'm only superficially familiar with US copyright law) to prove ownership in an action of infringement.

Is the economic value of your articles this important?

Why not collect the articles into a quarterly/biannual/annual edition and register them that way?

[rustybrick]

Well I have 5 articles so far. But I plan on doing one or two each month. So how would it work to do it as a publication?

Thanks.

[mosley700]

I'm curious why you want to register them with LOC. I see no benefits of doing so.

[rustybrick]

Well, if someone does take them without my permission (as people have in the past) I can take legal action and it would be easier if I had them registered.

Am I wrong about this?

[mgream]

>Well, if someone does take them without my permission (as
>people have in the past) I can take legal action and it
>would be easier if I had them registered.

>Am I wrong about this?

Mostly. You have protection even if you have not registered the works. In the United States, it is true that registration is highly desirable as a means to prove ownership/subsistence in an act of infringement. In the rest of the world this is not the case. The United States is like this as a historical artifact and recent alignment with the Berne convention. I suggest the United States will move towards the international approach where registration is not an issue at all.

Seek legal advice.

The point is:

1) can you afford to take legal action? if so, then you can afford legal advice now - please go and speak to a legal professional to sort this problem out. if you can't afford to take legal advice now, then paying money for registration is like throwing money into unknown territory: you just don't know what you're buying;

2) with DMCA taken provisions you can act against copyright infringements without your work being registered, so if you need to act against infringing copies of your work on the web, then this is the approach - you can file the notice against their service provider and search engines; i'm not sure how effective this really is (read other posts in the forum);

[rustybrick]

Thank you.

[mosley700]

Every case of plagarism I've seen involved India-based SEO's. And there's no way I'm going to India to pursue legal action.

People will steal your stuff. Pretty much not worth taking legal action.

[rogerd]

I think there are those who will plagiarize in many countries, but most of these are small operators who won't be worth suing. If you were dealing with a major literary work that might be attracting the attention of big players, then the L of C approach might make sense. As it is, I think the only people ripping off your SEO articles won't care about your L of C registration any more than your Copyright notice.

[rustybrick]

rogerd,

Thanks for the compliment ;)

[rogerd]

Ha... I didn't mean to imply your SEO articles lacked literary merit... :) Realistically, though, it's not going to be ZDNet who rips you off, it will be someone anonymous hosted in a third world country. Your main defense will be with Google et al, and a copyright notice should be sufficient. One thought: register the first few with LOC just as backup. This won't cost much, and if you have to prove the whole body of articles is yours it will be more ammo. (Or, perhaps, publish them as a collection & register that?)

[BlueSky]

You can also use the poorboy method of mailing the articles to yourself using registered mail. Then put the sealed envelopes somewhere safe should you ever need them for a legal case. Very tough going after someone in a third-world country unless they use a host in the US or a close ally of ours.

[rustybrick]

Ok, I'll do both.

I'm not so worried.

Just curious.