Individuals wishing to register a literary or artistic work, including a computer program such as software, must register with the Copyright Office of the National Directorate of Copyright and submit the following documents:
- Complete the application form for registration of software or logical support.
- A copy of the work, i.e., one exemplar.
Once the aforementioned documents are completed, the registration process begins, which has a duration of fifteen (15) business days from the date of application.
Furthermore, the registration application with the National Directorate of Copyright may be submitted in person or by mail to the entity, and if the registration is carried out by a third-party attorney-in-fact, they must present a power of attorney granted by the applicant.
After the fifteen (15) days have elapsed, the owner or attorney-in-fact may claim the registration at the offices of the Special Administrative Unit for Copyright.
Regarding the intellectual property of computer systems in the United States, they have a registration process similar to that of Colombia. However, under U.S. law, the registration of a work begins with a preregistration, followed by registration, and in some cases, it may be patented depending on the owner's needs.
First, preregistration is an indication of the intent to register a work once it has been completed and/or published. Thus, U.S. law requires that if you have preregistered a work, you must register the work within one month after the first publication or within three months after the first publication. Preregistration serves as a placeholder for limited purposes, mainly in cases where the copyright owner needs to file an infringement lawsuit while a work is still being prepared for commercial release. Preregistration does not replace registration, and its use is only appropriate in certain circumstances[1].
Thus, to preregister software, the Copyright Office provides that the following documents must be submitted:
- Completion of the form, which is available on the website.
- A copy of the works to be registered with the Copyright Office.
- Payment of registration fees per application.
Once the aforementioned documents are completed, the Copyright Office issues a registration certificate. In this way, the owner may request registration of the work in two ways:
- Registration of the work through an online application via the Copyright Office website, and a payment must be made for each application.
- Registration of the work by mail addressed to the Copyright Office, and payment of the corresponding registration fee.
According to the foregoing, U.S. law in its legal framework established the importance of protecting patents on elements created by man that are not covered by other legislation. For example, in Colombia, the legal framework only covers the protection of computer programs, which include software, through copyright registration and not as a patent.
In addition to registering as copyright, U.S. law also provides the possibility of filing software patent applications, which can be registered through three routes:
- By filing a direct application with the USPTO.
- By filing an application claiming international priority from an application in another territory within the first 12 months.
- By entering the national phase of a patent application under the PCT, within 30 months from the filing date.
In this vein, under Colombia's legal framework, computer programs are protected by intellectual property, specifically under the category of copyright, as all human expression resulting from ingenuity is protected, and the natural person who, if they so wish, has created the work through their talent must register it. Unlike U.S. law, which protects computer systems, where software can be registered as a work under the copyright category and, in some cases, may also be patented.