The correct answers to your questions are pretty easy to find if you just look.

Yesterday, I wrote an update to my August blog post about the Anthropic copyright case. In it, I mentioned that in order for a title to be included, it must be listed in the database of books Anthropic illegally obtained and used to train their AI and have its copyright registered with the US Copyright Office.

Apparently, it’s this second qualification that has a lot of authors freaking out — especially self-published authors. This came to light when I replied to an Ars Technica post on Mastodon — the same one I linked to in yesterday’s post. Yes, I was being flip, but I was also being honest. As someone who has books that qualify, I’ll definitely settle for $3,000 per qualifying title.

Apparently a lot of self-published authors have books that were illegally used by Anthropic but because they never bothered to register copyright of their work, they’re not eligible to receive compensation under this settlement. And they’re pissed.

As this angry self-published author stated:

I consider the qualifying rules too restrictive, in a legal culture in which the vast majority of self-published authors are told by their publishing platform, “A copyright declaration in your book is sufficient to guarantee all of your legal rights.”

(And, by the way, I’ve blurred his identity here because I don’t want to embarrass him. If he wants to take credit for his words here, he should let me know and I’ll share an unblurred image. He should understand that anything we write on social media can be excerpted for fair use.)

So basically, he (and others) are told by their “publishing platform” — Amazon and others I’m not familiar with because I don’t self publish that way — that they don’t need to register their work with the US Copyright Office to be protected. I’m not sure how true that is, but he sure seems to believe it.

But the facts about this are easy to find on the most obvious resource of copyright information: the US Copyright Office website. It took me less than 2 minutes to find this page, which clearly states how a work is copyrighted and the benefits of copyright registration (emphasis added):

When is my work protected?
Your work is under copyright protection the moment it is created and fixed in a tangible form that it is perceptible either directly or with the aid of a machine or device.

Do I have to register with your office to be protected?
No. In general, registration is voluntary. Copyright exists from the moment the work is created. (You will have to register, however, if you wish to bring a lawsuit for infringement of a U.S. work. See Circular 1, Copyright Basics, section “Copyright Registration.”

Why should I register my work if copyright protection is automatic?
Registration is recommended for a number of reasons. Many choose to register their works because they wish to have the facts of their copyright on the public record and have a certificate of registration. Registered works may be eligible for statutory damages and attorney’s fees in successful litigation. Finally, if registration occurs within five years of publication, it is considered prima facie evidence in a court of law. See Circular 1, Copyright Basics, section “Copyright Registration” and Circular 38b, Highlights of Copyright Amendments Contained in the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (URAA), on non-U.S. works.

So I ask you this: who would you believe when you ask whether copyright registration is required? The company eager to make money off of your hard work or the government organization that provides official information about copyright law and helps to enforce that law?

I’m fortunate. My publishers registered copyright in my work for me, although not all of them registered my work in my name. (I’m not sure if they’ll get the money for those books or I will, but I’m not being greedy here; what’s a few thousand more when I’m looking at a $30K payday I never expected?) I’ve self-published a handful of books and did not register them. They are not listed among the stolen works.

But I have learned a valuable lesson here and will register copyright for all of my books in the future. I suspect we’ll have more of these cases and I want to be protected on a go-forward basis.

If you’re a writer who plans to publish your work, I highly recommend you register copyright for it.