Legal Question in Intellectual Property in New York

Re: Similiar Book idea as mine

Adding to Mr. Mark's excellent response, registration of copyright in the USA is a matter of sending two copies of the published work, the appropriate form, and the nominal fee to the Copyright Office (www.copyright.gov). Occasionally, the copyright examiner will have questions that have to be answered prior to registration, but registration of copyright is generally a straightforward and inexpensive process that can pay off handsomely in additional rights.

Also, you should make very sure that your work contains a copyright notice; you can obtain the appropriate form from the copyright page of any book that comes from a publishing house.

As to the title/trademark issue, trademark registration is very much a matter of "first come, first served." If your work was published and being sold before your competitor's and you can prove that, you'd likely be considered to be first in line. Trademark registration is, though, a much more complex (and expensive) matter than is copyright registration, generally speaking, and many authors don't bother with it. There are notable exceptions to that generality: HARRY POTTER is a registered trademark, for example (and is vigorously guarded by the trademark holder, which is Warner Bros., I believe), as are clever titles to self-help works.

Do register your copyright ASAP.

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Re: Similiar Book idea as mine

Your book, assuming it is an original, literary work, is protected by copyright from the moment of its creation. Registration will afford you additional rights and you should do it as soon as possible. As to the title, you needn't be concerned about copyright as it would be more in the nature of a trademark issue. However, unless the title of the first book has acquired a secondary meaning (read: likely to cause confusion as to source), unlikely to be the case in a recently published work, it would be doubtful whether the other author could prevail in a trademark action.