Is the content in employee handbooks copyrighted or otherwise protected?

I would think many corporations would also consider their employee handbooks "confidential information" / "trade secrets".

Yes, the subject matter is likely subject to copyright protection by someone somewhere. This is because it is a creative work six tonight tangible medium of expression and set items are automatically protected by 17 USC 102 upon creation. However, as a practical matter these employee handbooks are frequently copied from one company to another with customization by attorneys. I never heard of any company suing another company for violation of a copyright on an employee handbook written by a corporate attorney. On the contrary, the norm is for one corporate attorney to call another corporate attorney andflatter themand then ask if the employee handbook materials can be copied. During my 20 years of corporate practice I received at least 50 such requests by other attorneys wanted to copy. Corporate manuals I wrote on intellectual property law back in the1970s and 1980s. I received at least 30 such requests regarding my manual on correct corporate usage of trademarks that I wrote way back in 1978. See copyright in such manuals and handbooks is generally held by the company itself as a "work for hire". Your big risk is not copyright infringement but rather copying provisions that are obsolete or inapplicable to your business. The relevant laws vary from state to state and country to country and change frequently. The Patent Act, for example, changed drastically in 2013 when they first to file provisions of the America Invents Act went into effect. Noncompetition law is dramatically different in California from what it is in Illinois or Texas or New York. publicity rights very dramatically from California to Illinois to New York , particularly as regards posthumous rights. If you insist on ignoring our advice, at least copy and employee and look for some company that the business nationally as they generally must take into account the various state laws. However, if you do that recognize that you well generally in the provision least favorable to the company rather than the most you are entitled to under your state law. That could be a million-dollar mistake in the wrong situation. By the time you realize it, it will be too late to them hire an attorney to Correct what you could have easily fixed at the start by hiring an attorney.

Works of authorship result, as the work is made, in a Copyright Property. Handbooks are such works. You should consult with an Intellectual Property attorney.

Company handbooks could be eligible for copyright protection. They may also have other stipulations on them with the individual employees from disclosing. Bottom line, even if appears that many parties are copying, taking the materials of another will create liability and/or risk. Besides, what works for one company may not be appropriate for another.

Yes company handbooks are protected by copyrights. In fact, there are companies that specialize in preparing and selling form for employee handbooks. Thus, it is very risky to copy and use large sections of another company's employee handbook. The language is not boilerplate---that is wrong. The language various dramatically from one company to another. You should retain legal counsel to create your employee handbook. From personal experience with clients, I can tell you that it is sometimes disastrous when a company pinches pennies and fails to hire a lawyer to draft its handbook. Each handbook and each provision in it needs to be specifically tailored to your company. This is not a job for amateurs or even experienced HR department personnel. Get a lawyer to do this for you.

Whether the other company federally registered their materials is an investigative question for your copyright attorney to answer. However, the other company likely has established common law rights in what they drafted. Your overt lifting and reproduction of their work appears to satisfy some of the elements of copyright infringement. You may want to reconsider your employee handbook and redraft some of those "boilerplate" portions using your own words that are appropriate for your type of business. Good luck!