Copyright, Barcodes, ISBNs, and LCCNs: What Every Author Should Know

Most of us know what a copyright is, or at least we have heard about them. Anything that you create, such as a children’s book, a novel, music, art, and illustrations, among others that you want to publicly display, or to put up for sale, should have a copyright on it. This protects your work and gives you the exclusive rights to your work. It also provides legal protection over the work’s reproduction, distribution, adaptation and performance. It is important to note that it must be tangible, and not just an idea. Ideas cannot be copyrighted.

A work is protected by copyright the moment it’s created and recorded in a physical or digital form. Copyright protection lasts for the life of the author plus 70 years after their death. It is important to note that because a copyright exists the moment after, for instance, an author creates the story, and could prove (if needed) when the story was first written, an author could take extra steps to protect his and/or her work. 

Although in the United States, registering your work is not mandatory, registering the work gives your work extra protection, in case someone who did not create the work tries to pass it along as their own. The need for litigation would then be necessary. This registration also allows authors, for example, to seek monetary damages and attorney fees if litigation were to happen. If you do not have a registered copyright, it could cost you more money to prove that you were the one who created the work, but that is not to say that it cannot be done. Registering your book, through the copyright process, also notifies the public that you have full rights to your work.

Copyrights, in the United States, can only be registered through the United States Copyright Office, at copyright.gov. The price to register online for a copyright is $45 for one application if there is only one author, and if it is a “single work”. In other words, if you (as the author) are the only person who wrote the book, and you are registering one book, then this would qualify as a “single work.” This is the lowest cost option. A standard online application is $65, and registering using a paper application will cost you around $125, because you are submitting the application by mail. 

But, how do you get your book copyrighted, when you have to have the number before your book is actually printed? There is a way and to my research and knowledge, it fully protects your work. If you are a self-publisher, and you are using a printing company, for instance, you can type in (if using Windows), ALT + 0169, to get the copyright sign (©). Use Option + G if using a Mac.

Then you will want to put your name and the year. After this, you will want to put “All Rights Reserved.” For example, ©Patrice Coke 2025. All Rights Reserved. The copyright should go on the back of the title page of your book. It, more often than not, precedes the dedication and/or acknowledgment. This page is an important page, because it not only contains the copyright, but it also contains the publisher’s information, the ISBN, the LCCN (if you have one), and other pertinent information. It’s sort of like a legal page. Then, for your second printing, you could have the registered copyright printed, because then you would have it at that time for that particular book.

I mention the second printing because getting a copyright can sometimes take an average of three months to eighteen months, depending on the method of filing, if the application had any errors, and the Copyright Office having to contact you regarding more information, what type of claim it is, and how much correspondence is needed. It has been said that a “significant amount of applications require some back-and-forth communication.” So, in other words, you do not have to wait to get your work published before the registration process is complete.

A barcode, on the back of books, represents where the ISBN and price are located. They usually go hand-in-hand. Barcodes are used on physical books to allow scanning of a book, for a person buying the book. If you are planning on selling your book anywhere except online, you will need a barcode. It is important to note that a barcode is not an ISBN. 

An ISBN serves as a unique identifier for your book and is typically required for distribution through many outlets. Your ISBNs never expire. You can get several ISBNS at a time to have for your future books. You need to understand that an ISBN for a print book cannot be reused if you also have an e-book of the same book published. 

There are companies that offer barcodes and ISBNs and charge you a fee for those. However, there is a better way to obtain these. There are also some factors that play into this, and it is important to know what they are. When obtaining an ISBN, the official service to do this through is Bowker.com.  Bowker also offers barcodes and other services for additional fees. There are several price options. The lowest option is $125.00. With this option, you get one ISBN, you get into Books In Print, you are registered as a publisher, and you appear in relevant databases. For $150.00, you get an ISBN and a barcode. Their “best seller” option is $295.00, which gives you ten ISBNs. The highest priced option is $1,500. The process is simple. All you need to do is set up an account on Myidentifiers.com. From here, you will manage your ISBNs. In order to obtain a barcode, you will need your book’s ISBN information, along with how much you are going to sell the book. After you have paid on Myidentifiers.com, the barcode file can be downloaded. You can store your barcodes (if you purchased more than one) for future use on the same website. One important note is that you need to make sure that you enter the correct price you want on the barcode, because once it is generated, the price cannot be changed.

As I mentioned before, there are companies like Amazon’s KDP that offer free “ISBNs”. Barnes and Noble Press also provides free ISBNs for books if you publish through their platform, but there are reasons why it is recommended that you do not do this. You are the author. As a self-published author, this lets you stay in control of your own publishing imprint, keep a consistent identity across your books, and gives you the freedom to make the best choices for your distribution and future projects. If you accept a free ISBN from a publisher or POD service, your book will be tied to their imprint—not yours—which can sometimes work against you. Some bookstores and reviewers may look less favorably on titles linked to those services, so it’s important to consider how you want your book to be represented.  Owning your ISBN gives you more of a professional image, which can be beneficial for building credibility and attracting readers. Also, when you own your own ISBN, you do not need permission from the publishing company (that offers the ISBN for free) for any rights related to your work. 

To summarize, it is better to own your ISBN than to have a company give you one for “free”. You have to remember that even though it is “free”, you are giving up your rights as being the punisher of your own book. Although self-publishing has come a long way and is now perceived to be a great way to publish your books, if a company gives you an ISBN, and you do not own it, it can dissuade readers and tarnish your credibility. This, in itself, was enough for me to want to own my ISBN.

I’m sure that when you have opened up a book, trying to get to the title page, you have noticed (and maybe read) the copyright page, and have seen ‘Library of Congress’, and may have even noticed a number following. But what is it exactly, and what does it mean?  A Library of Congress Control Number (LCCN) is like an ISBN in that they both have a unique number that identifies a book. However, the LCCN is different because it has a unique number that is assigned by the Library of Congress to identify a specific title of a book. While these numbers are unique in their respective ways, they are not the same.  They are not even processed through the same office. 

As an author, you do not need an LCCN to sell your book. An LCCN is only beneficial if you want your book in libraries. The LCCN is used for cataloging purposes, along with making it more feasible for professional credibility. And, unlike the ISBN, the LCCN is assigned once to a book, no matter how many formats the book is in, for instance, hardback, paperback, ebook, etc. Also, some bookstores like books to have LCCNs as it makes their cataloging easier.

If you want to register your book before it is published, or you want the number printed in your book, you can most certainly do this by using the Library of Congress’ Preassigned Control Number (PCN) program. The Library of Congress assigns the LCCN in advance. Obtaining an LCCN is free. Once your book has been published and/or printed, they require you to send them a complimentary hard copy. You will receive an email instructing you on what to do and where to send the copy of your book after you have submitted your information. Also, know that if you are going through a company such as IngramSpark or Barnes and Noble Press, do not purchase and/or get a barcode. These companies will put their own barcode over yours, so you have just wasted time and money obtaining one on your own.