Legal Question in Intellectual Property in New Jersey

Re: Autobiography

If you want to control any publication, it must be protected by copyright or kept secret. If it is in the public domain, anyone can copy it or make derivative works from it.

A work can be copyrighted without registration in which case there are no fees. Registration has advantages that are significant. For more information, I recommend the web site of the Library of Congress.

See also: http://info.corbettlaw.net/lawguru.htm

Re: Autobiography

In your situation, I see some significant benefits to copyright registration. If you want profits or other benefits to go to charity, then think of the copyright registration as an investment toward a charitable donation. There will not be any profits for a charity to collect if you make the work freely available for the taking. You could even assign your copyrights to a specific charity so that they may directly obtain the benefits, have the right to control how others use the material, and have the ability to sue if copyright infringement occurs. Many large charitable organizations have legal teams who would understand such a gift and would have the resources to capitalize on the gift.

The copyright filing/registration fees are very inexpensive. Look at www.copyright.gov to see the fees.

Good luck to you!