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Copyright Services Guide

What is a Copyright and do I need one?

What is a Copyright and do I need one?

Copyright is a set of exclusive rights granted to the author or creator of an original work, including the right to copy, distribute and adapt the work. Copyright does not protect ideas, only their expression or fixation. In a nutshell, copyright is an exclusive legal right given to an originator or an assignee to print, publish, perform, film, or record literary, artistic, or musical material, and to authorize others to do the same. It's up to you if you feel you need one!  

Visit Official Copyright Office

Griot International LLC requires DMCA notices to be filed via fax or letter.

  • The complaint must include full contact information in the complaint (including phone number). We will call and verify. Email (unless digitally signed by a verified and trusted third party) is not an acceptable medium for legal complaints. This ticket system has received what appears to be a possible DMCA complaint, but one or more of the following are missing: (a) the complaint does not contain sufficient information (b) the format of the complaint is inconsistent with the requirements of the DMCA (c) the complaint has been submitted via email without proper authentication (d) full contact information is missing. We will need you to re-submit your claim, using the proper format, including sufficient details, via postal mail or fax. Instructions on how to do so follow.


  • It is our policy to respond to clear notices of alleged copyright infringement. This response describes the information that should be present in these notices. It is designed to make submitting notices of alleged infringement to us as straightforward as possible while reducing the number of notices that we receive that are fraudulent or difficult to understand or verify. The form of notice specified below is consistent with the form suggested by the United States Digital Millennium Copyright Act (the text of which can be found at the U.S. Copyright Office Web Site, http://www.copyright.gov) but we will respond to notices of this form from other jurisdictions as well. To file a notice of infringement with us, you must provide a written communication that sets forth the items specified below. 


Please note that you will be liable for damages (including costs and attorneys' fees) if you materially misrepresent that a product or activity is infringing your copyrights. Accordingly, if you are not sure whether material available online infringes your copyright, we suggest that you first contact an attorney.


  • To expedite our ability to process your request, please use the following format (including section numbers):

  1. Identify in sufficient detail the copyrighted work that you believe has been infringed upon (for example, "The copyrighted work at issue is the text that appears on http://www.Griot International LLC.com/success") or other information sufficient to specify the copyrighted work being infringed (for example, "The copyrighted work at issue is ?Intellectual Property: Valuation, Exploitation, and Infringement Damages? by Johnia S. Jackson, published by TRP Books, ISBN #047165555663X").
  2. Identify the material that you claim is infringing the copyrighted work listed in item #1 above. You must identify each web page that allegedly contains infringing material. This requires you to provide the URL for each allegedly infringing result, document, or item. An example: 
  3. Infringing Web Pages: http://www.thewebsite.com/directory and http://www.thewebsite.com/something/ect.html
  4. Provide information reasonably sufficient to permit us to contact you.
  5. Provide information, if possible, sufficient to permit us to notify the owner/administrator of the allegedly infringing webpage or other content (email address is preferred).
  6. Include the following statement: "I have a good faith belief that use of the copyrighted materials described above as allegedly infringing is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law."
  7. Include the following statement: "I swear, under penalty of perjury, that the information in the notification is accurate and that I am the copyright owner or am authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed."
  8. Sign the paper.
  9. If via postal mail, send the written communication to the following address: 

Griot International LLC 

Attn: Abuse Department, DMCA Complaint 

2844 N. Taylor Ln

Casa Grande, AZ 85122

United States of America 


OR email to: 

complaints@griotpublishinghouse.com


  • Regardless of whether we may be liable for such infringement under local country law or United States law, we may respond to these notices by removing or disabling access to material claimed to infringe and/or terminating users of our services. If we remove or disable access in response to such a notice, we will make a good-faith attempt to contact the owner or administrator of the affected site or content so that the owner or administrator may make a counter notification.


  • We may also document notices of alleged infringement on which we act. As with all legal notices, a copy of the notice may be made available to the public and sent to one or more third parties who may make it available to the public.


  • In order to ensure that copyright owners do not wrongly insist on the removal of materials that actually do not infringe their copyrights, the safe harbor provisions require service providers to notify the subscribers if their materials have been removed and to provide them with an opportunity to send a written notice to the service provider stating that the material has been wrongly removed. [512(g)]


  • If a subscriber provides a proper "counter-notice" claiming that the material does not infringe copyrights, the service provider must then promptly notify the claiming party of the individual's objection. [512(g)(2)] If the copyright owner does not bring a lawsuit in district court within 14 days, the service provider is then required to restore the material to its location on its network. [512(g)(2)(C)]


  • If it is determined that the copyright holder misrepresented its claim regarding the infringing material, the copyright holder then becomes liable to the OSP for any damages that resulted from the improper removal of the material. [512(f)]


Current Processing Times

Image and Illustration Copyright

We require that you sign off on your Book files stating that you are not using any copy written contents to the best of your knowledge.If you have photos that are in question, please contact us at (888) 600-2011.

Book Preparation Guide

The Copyright Act Regarding Color, Black, and White Photos

  •  The Copyright Act protects a wide variety of photographic works. This category includes photographs that are created with a camera and captured in a digital file or other visual medium such as film. Examples include color photos, black and white photos, and similar types of images. 


  • Copyright is a federal law of the United States that protects original works of authorship. A work of authorship includes literary, written, dramatic, artistic, musical and certain other types of works.


  • Copyright attaches as soon as the original work is created, and applies to both published and unpublished works. As soon as you type words, click the shutter on your camera (or, for many of you, hit the home button on your iPhone), apply paint to canvas or paper or lay down tracks for your next hit, you’ve got a copyright (with some exceptions).


  • Copyright is an automatic right and does not require the author to file special paperwork, as is the case for trademark and patent. Registration is required to enforce the rights, but as a matter of right, an author is not required to register anything to get the right to use the “circle c,” showing the work is copyrighted.


  • We encourage you to use as many original photos as you can muster up. Since these are your family's photos, you may be safe in using any images that have been in your family for generations. We require that you sign off on your Book files stating that you are not using any copy written contents to the best of your knowledge. If you have photos that are in question, please contact us at (888) 600-2011.

REGISTERING IMAGES TUTORIAL
Does my work have to be published to be protected?

Does my work have to be published to be protected?

Publication is not necessary for copyright protection. Your Manuscript/Published Book creation is protected by copyright as soon as it exists in a tangible form. Under United States law, it is harder to enforce your copyright unless it's registered.  


Please be aware that your copyright registration certificate should arrive in the mail between 2-18 months, and will be dated from the date your application was submitted. There is no online system to check your status.

Registration Processing Times
Do I register my copyright on my own or do I do it through my publisher?

Do I register my copyright on my own or do I do it through my publisher?

Either way, it's your choice. You can follow the links to the website of the U.S Copyright Office and complete the paperwork for your copyright. All transactions will be done through their website and has absolutely nothing to do with Griot Publishing or its affiliates. Now, if you would rather for us to obtain the copyright for you, we will gladly do that here. We still adhere by the rules of the Copyright Office which simply means that Griot Publishing has no control over the time frame of receiving your Copyright certificate nor do we have any control if they decide to raise their fees.   

Self-Service Portal
How do I register my copyright?

How do I register my copyright?

To register a work, either your Publisher or yourself can submit a completed application form, a nonrefundable filing fee, which is $45 if you register online or $65-$125 if you register using a paper application; and a nonreturnable copy or copies of the work to be registered. U.S. Copyright Office 101 Independence Avenue SE Washington, DC 20559-6000    (202) 707-3000. If Griot Publishing processes your application, you will be assessed a processing fee of $45.00. 

Order Copyright Services
Can I make copies of the application form?

Can I make copies of the application form?

You may not make copies of Form CO, which is available only on the Copyright Office website. Form CO is a fill-in form that creates and contains unique 2-D barcodes as you fill it in. The barcodes contain the information you place on the form, and they enable the Office to process your application faster and more efficiently. You may retrieve copies of in-process or completed Copyright Office records or other Copyright Office materials for a fee between $35 - $200. 

Full Fees Schedule
Do I have to send in my work? Do I get it back?

Do I have to send in my work? Do I get it back?

Yes and No! Yes, you must send the required copy or copies of the work to be registered, but No, Your copies will not be returned. If you register online using eCO eService, you may attach an electronic copy of your deposit. However, even if you register online, if the Library of Congress requires a hard-copy deposit of your work, you must send what the Library defines as the "best edition" of your work.  Of the copyright law, all copies and identifying material, including those deposited in connection with claims that have been refused registration, are the property of the U.S. government. 

eCO Registration
Will my personal information be available to the public?

Will my personal information be available to the public?

Yes. Please be aware that when you register your claim to a copyright in a work with the U.S. Copyright Office, you are making a public record. All the information you provide on your copyright registration is available to the public and will be available on the Internet. 


The name of an author or claimant can only be removed from the online record if the author or claimant has had a legal name change and the requestor provides documentation of such. 

Copyright Privacy FAQ
How long does the registration process take?

How long does the registration process take?

Please be aware that all mail (U.S. Postal Service and private carrier) sent to the U.S. Copyright Office is being screened off-site prior to arrival on Capitol Hill. This process can add 3 to 5 days to the delivery time for all mail sent to the Copyright Office.  The effective date of registration of a work is still the day all the required elements in acceptable form are received, but relief from this may be available under interim regulations on mail disruption (37 CFR 201.8). Please note that our mail service is severely disrupted.(Read more details)  

How much do I have to change in my own work to make a new claim of copyright?

How much do I have to change in my own work to make a new claim of copyright?

You may make a new claim in your work if the changes are substantial and creative, something more than just editorial changes or minor changes. This would qualify as a new derivative work. For instance, simply making spelling corrections throughout a work does not warrant a new registration, but adding an additional chapter would. 

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888-600-2011

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