Artistic expressions such as literature, music, film, artistic expressions and any other creative work can be registered by copyright as property of the creator or owner.
Copyrighting a work is simple, all an artist needs to do is list copyright on the work, and it has one level of protection, however, registering it with the Copyright Office, paying a fee and getting a time stamp is stronger evidence of ownership in court and necessary for securely establishing ownership of a work.
Copyrights are granted for a certain time, generally 30 years, but can be renewed. A copyright registration process – like a patent process – must make certain that the idea is original, therefore also looks at prior art, both submitted with explanations with the application, and those discovered by the patent office officials. Once a piece is cleared and copyrighted, it gains value as an original.