Copyright Registration

There is no system for copyright registration in New Zealand. You don’t need to submit your work to any organisation, publish your work, pay a registration fee, put a copyright notice on it, or do anything else to get copyright protection − it is automatic and free.

An original work is protected from the moment is put into “material form” such as in writing or recorded in some other way.

You may be able to register your work with an independent party (such as the New Zealand Writers Guild) to obtain independent proof of your claim to authorship. However, this registration does not establish copyright ownership and is not necessary to secure copyright protection.