The copyright page, on the back of the title page, holds the legal and catalogue details of a book: the copyright notice, the rights reserved, the ISBN for each format, the edition and who published it. Type your details into the generator below and it sets them in the order publishers use. There is also a Word template, examples for different kinds of books, and a line-by-line explanation of what each part does.
Copyright page generator
Fill in what you have; leave the rest blank. Nothing you type leaves this page.
[Book title] Copyright © 2026 [Author name] All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner, except for brief quotations in a book review. ISBN [your ISBN] First edition Printed in the United States of America
Download the template
Free, no sign-up. Open it in Word, Google Docs, Pages or LibreOffice and replace the bracketed parts.
Examples
- Copyright © 2026 Grace Mensah All rights reserved. ISBN 978-1-23456-789-7 (paperback) ISBN 978-1-23456-790-3 (ebook) First edition
- Copyright © 2026 The Riverside Writers Group. Each story copyright © 2026 its author. All rights reserved.
- This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously.
- Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
- Cover design: Studio Ellis Interior layout: Harmony Publishing Printed in the United States of America
What goes on a copyright page, line by line
- The copyright notice: the © symbol (or the word Copyright), the year of first publication and the owner's name.
- The rights statement: "All rights reserved" and the usual permission wording.
- Disclaimers: the fiction disclaimer, or a not-professional-advice line for health, money and legal books.
- Permissions and credits: Bible translations, quoted lyrics and poems, cover and interior credits.
- ISBNs: one for each format. KDP says each format (paperback, hardcover) needs its own ISBN.
- Library of Congress Control Number, if you have one.
- Edition and printing line, publisher or imprint, and where the book was printed.
Is the copyright page what protects the book?
No. In the United States, copyright exists automatically once an original work is fixed in a tangible form, according to the U.S. Copyright Office. The notice on the copyright page tells readers who owns it. Registering with the Copyright Office is separate: it is not mandatory, but for U.S. works it is necessary before you can sue over infringement, and timely registration makes certain damages available.
Getting a Library of Congress Control Number
The Library of Congress assigns a control number before publication through its Preassigned Control Number (PCN) program. Forthcoming books to be published in the United States are eligible; books published only as ebooks are not. Libraries use the number to find the book's catalogue record.
Questions
Where does the copyright page go?
On the back (left-hand page) of the title page in a printed book, and right after the title page in an ebook.
Which year do I use?
The year the book is first published. A revised edition adds the new year: "Copyright © 2024, 2026".
Do I need a separate ISBN for the ebook?
On KDP an ISBN is optional for ebooks. Paperback and hardcover each need their own ISBN.
Sources
- U.S. Copyright Office, What is Copyright?, checked 28 Oct 2026.
- Amazon KDP Help, What is an ISBN and Imprint?, checked 28 Oct 2026.
- Library of Congress, Preassigned Control Number program, checked 28 Oct 2026.
- Library of Congress, PCN scope (ineligible works), checked 28 Oct 2026.
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