Copyrights and Patents: Visual Arts Copyright Registration

First, let's pinpoint what falls into the visual arts category. Here's the list of examples from the US Copyright Office:

"Examples of visual arts works:

  • Advertisements, commercial prints, labels
  • Artificial flowers and plants
  • Artwork applied to clothing or to other useful articles
  • Bumper stickers, decals, stickers
  • Cartographic works, such as maps, globes, relief models
  • Cartoons, comic strips
  • Collages
  • Dolls, toys
  • Drawings, paintings, murals
  • Enamel works
  • Fabric, floor, and wallcovering designs
  • Games, puzzles
  • Greeting cards, postcards, stationery
  • Holograms, computer and laser artwork
  • Jewelry designs
  • Models
  • Mosaics
  • Needlework and craft kits
  • Original prints, such as engravings, etchings, serigraphs, silk screen prints, woodblock prints
  • Patterns for sewing, knitting, crochet, needlework
  • Photographs, photomontages
  • Posters
  • Record jacket artwork or photography
  • Relief and intaglio prints
  • Reproductions, such as lithographs, collotypes
  • Sculpture, such as carvings, ceramics, figurines, maquettes, molds, relief sculptures
  • Stained glass designs
  • Stencils, cut-outs
  • Technical drawings, architectural drawings or plans, blueprints, diagrams, mechanical drawings
  • Weaving designs, lace designs, tapestries"

Now to file an application:

The application is fairly simple & the cost is $45 per application.

Despite what others state, a "poor man's" copyright is NOT the same as registering it. Here's what the US Copyright Office has to say:

"The practice of sending a copy of your own work to yourself is sometimes called a 'poor man’s copyright.' There is no provision in the copyright law regarding any such type of protection, and it is not a substitute for registration."

Lastly, here are two great resources for Copyrights, the Creative Arts & Music:

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