is a citizen or resident of the United States, or
one dollar if he is a foreigner. If a copy of the record entered at
the Copyright Office is desired, an additional fifty cents is
required. The fees, preferably in the form of a money-order, are
enclosed in the envelope containing the claim, and the whole
forwarded, postage prepaid, to the Register of Copyrights at the
Library of Congress.

Upon receiving these, the Copyright Office will acknowledge the
receipt of the fees and make a record of the claim and of the title in
books provided for the purpose. The law specifies that this record
shall be in the following words:--

"Library of Congress, to wit: Be it remembered that on the___day
of________190________________ of_________has deposited in this Office
the title of a BOOK, the title of which is in the following words, to
wit:____________, the right whereof_______ claims as author and
proprietor in conformity with the laws of the United States respecting
copyrights. ______________Librarian of Congress."

It is generally the custom to obtain a copy of this record, which, if
the fee is enclosed, is sent to the claimant as soon after the receipt
of the application as it can be made out in the regular course of the
business of the Copyright Office. This copy is signed by the Register
of Copyrights and is sealed with the official seal of the Library of
Congress. The period of protection under an original claim is
twenty-eight years.

It is important to remember that the application and the title are
required by law to be delivered to the Register of Copyrights "on or
before the day of publication in this or any other country." If
delayed until after that day, the book cannot have the protection of
the copyright law.

Prior to 1891 none but citizens or residents of the United States
could obtain copyright, but in July of that year the privilege was
extended to the citizens, or subjects, of such other countries as
grant to the citizens of the United States the same copyright
privileges which they afford to their own countrymen. At the present
time these privileged countries are Belgium, France, Great Britain and
her possessions, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, Denmark, Portugal,
Spain, Mexico, Chile, Costa Rica, the Netherlands (Holland) and her
possessions, Cuba, China, and Norway.

The law also requires that a book desired to be copyrighted in the
United States must be printed in this country. It is, therefore, not