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Post edited 9:18 AM - March 23, 2010 by Jules
Post edited 9:21 AM - March 23, 2010 by Jules

Did you know that a work does not need to be registered with the US Copyright Agency to be protected under copyright law? It's amazing how many people don't. I recently entered works of a friend on computer, and I wrote this copyright warning/notice to readers:

“Here is some copyright information which is downloadable via PDF from the U.S Copyright Website pertaining to this compilation. Note: I have paraphrased some of this, but the information is still solidly based on the federal document.

According to copyright law, any material, existing in tangible form, written, audio, or video, written on paper, on a hanky for that matter, in a digital media format, or carved into stone, is copyrighted and is hence protected under copyright law; this means that a work does not have to be processed by the federal copyright agency to be copyrighted and protected by copyright law; copyright is secured automatically when the work is created, and a work is “created” when it is fixed in a copy or phonorecord for the first time; Works between the years 1976 and 1989 are required to have some copyright mark, however as of 1989 a copyrighted work need not possess a copyright date, the words copyright or protected, or a circa (c) mark; a copyright work can be a single piece, in this case a poem, or a collective compilation, in this case a compilation of poems and stories; mere possession of a work does not give a possessor copyrights, there must be a transfer of ownership to convey new ownership; a work is copyrighted for the life of the owner and for 70 years after their death; If there are any further questions regarding copyright law, please visit the official U.S Copyright website and download the PDF; This notice absolves the reader of all ignorance of copy protection to these documents and therefor such reader can not claim “Innocent Infringement”.”

To add, the difference between having your work legally processed and just being protected by law is that when your work is processed with the copyright office and should there be infringement, they will send a US representative to court to testify in your behalf.

Note that it takes up to NINE months (to give birth to) to complete the copyrighting process (online method), so get it started as quick as possible.

What about the old “Put it in a sealed, post marked envelope” method. It should be noted that this is only a THEORY, and has “NEVER” been tried in court. Personally, I wouldn't take the chance.

Further, you can submit all your poems as one composite work, and pay the same fee.

Though your works are copyrighted, without good evidence it is difficult to prove that the work is yours if someone tries to steal it; some unscrupulous individual can simply procure false witnesses to combat yours; so ultimately, processing is a good idea, if you're worried about loosing your ownership.

For more information, I recommend you visit the official copyright website. There are a lot of sites that try to clarify copyright law, but really, it's not difficult to understand, and the official site has all the tutorials and facts you need; and you can say you got the information from the source.

Here is the site link: http://www.copyright.gov

I hope this was helpful.

—Jules

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