Copyrighting Poetry with the Library of Congress

Published collections of poetry may be registered on a single form with a single fee if all the poems are owned by the same copyright claimant.

Unpublished collectionsof two or more poems may be submitted for registration on a single form with a single fee and deposit of one complete copy or phonorecord only if all the following conditions are met:

1. The elements are assembled in an orderly form;
2. The combined elements bear a single title identifying the collection as a whole;
3. The copyright claimant in all of the elements and in the collection as a whole is the same;
4. All the elements are by the same author, or, if they are by different authors, at least one of the authors has contributed copyrightable authorship to each of the elements.

For the latest guidelines on copyrighting poetry and/or for more information, log onto the Library of Congress Copyright section at:  LOC - Copyright Info