who registers copyrights?

Do Not Register Copyright Until the Work is Published (or Within a Month or So of Publication). Generally you do not register copyright in unpublished works, as the copyright protections provided by registration are designed to protect copyirghtable works at & after publication. Copyright protections attach to all qualifying works at the moment of creation, whether or not the work is registered. Works should be registered with the copyright office within three calendar months of initial publication, in order to benefit from all the legally-available protections. Also, if someone infringes the copyright on your unpublished work, you should (read: must) register