Copyrights

[wiggins]

Hi guys! Just wondering, how do you copyright stuff?
Thanks!

[YesIExist]

http://www.copyright.gov/

[Straylight]

Also, bear this in mind (taken straight from the site)

[quote]Do I have to register with your office to be protected?
No. In general, registration is voluntary. Copyright exists from the moment the work is created. You will have to register, however, if you wish to bring a lawsuit for infringement of a U.S. work. See Circular 1, Copyright Basics, section “Copyright Registration.â€

[Fsiphskilm]

Yea I can't stand it

[JediSonic]

[quote="Straylight's reference to copyright.gov"]Do I have to register with your office to be protected?
No. In general, registration is voluntary. Copyright exists from the moment the work is created. You will have to register, however, if you wish to bring a lawsuit for infringement of a U.S. work. See Circular 1, Copyright Basics, section “Copyright Registration.â€

[CobaltAngel]

Wow, that rocks, I always wondered. ^-^

[Haibane Shadsie]

Legally, all you have to do is "Copyright YourNameHere, 2004" or (C). However, yes... be careful with your stuff if you don't have it officially registered.

Official registration, however, costs some money. I got a novel-type thing of mine officially copyrighted once... but I regret it and feel like I wasted my money, because, in hindsight... the work was awful. I hate that story now. It's a piece of writing that I thought was wonderful when I was doing it, but after writing more and growing... gah! It's SOOOOOOOO bad!

With my current stuff... I'm just careful. I have ways to show proof of things being mine if things ever come up with me in court. There are things of mine that I don't post online for fear of being ripped off. Some things, I do post, but I keep original versions and such with me, including, very often, my handwritten stuff that usually preceeds anything typed. I just.. am taking risks with those things.

There is also what is called the "poor man's copyright". This is where you take a copy/printout of your work, seal it in an envelope, and mail it to yourself. Then, you keep it and never open it. Because it is sealed and has a postmark on it of a particular date from being run through the postal system, you have something of proof of "this is mine" if things come up in court. Still, this isn't steel-clad, and won't provide the real protection an offical U.S. Copyright Office copyright can.

~Speaking specifically for literary Copyright~
As far as putting a (c) or "Copyright" on your work... I've read in the Writer's Market that most publishing houses and agents DO NOT like that if you send a manuscript into them. It's just something that they somehow find unprofessional and prefer you not to do that, because they know/trust that the work you send in is copyright to you, and they don't like to see it re-iterated in a possessive way... or something. It's just something I've read in my own experiences of trying to get my work professionally published. (I have a box full of rejection letters to prove my efforts!)

[Bobtheduck]

~Speaking specifically for literary Copyright~
As far as putting a (c) or "Copyright" on your work... I've read in the Writer's Market that most publishing houses and agents DO NOT like that if you send a manuscript into them. It's just something that they somehow find unprofessional and prefer you not to do that, because they know/trust that the work you send in is copyright to you, and they don't like to see it re-iterated in a possessive way... or something. It's just something I've read in my own experiences of trying to get my work professionally published. (I have a box full of rejection letters to prove my efforts!)

That's why I'm publishing myself. Much easier that way. More control, and less hassle.

Big companies are only for gaining attention. I'm going word of mouth. The NFL club, hehehe... I mean, Yeah... I'm going word of mouth. I just have to publish a minimal number (I'll go for 100... I heard you can even publish just one book), sell all of those in person and have them get their friends to buy from me for my second run of, oh say, 150.

[redkorn]

i have a friend that owns a message board and lately we caught 3 people who ripped his layout to his board, he has the copy right symbol on it but not that legalized way, but still it is stealing no matter anyway looking at it, your taking something not your that some one worked hard to make.

[Fsiphskilm]

How true. You g

[madphilb]

[quote="Volt"]Now that we're grown up and have started to work on our own creations]
This is why I stopped pirating software... dispite the "thou shalt not steal" thing, I realised I was taking someone elses lunch money... punk just doesn't fit my image

[Haibane Shadsie]

I was thinking of self-publishing, too... my only hangup is that I want my book to be "good" enough for an outside company to take it. It is called "vanity publishing" for a reason...

It is something I've considered, though... at least once I get my book polished to pearl-brightness. (I thought it was ready to go... having had my manuscript critiqued by many people and using their advice... until.. I joined my writer's club. Now... I'm finding out how to make my main character much more realistic, thanks to the soccer moms in the club who know more about motherly emotions than I do - and probably ever will). If I get my book to where... everyone or nearly everyone who comes in contact with it says "This is really good, people would be fools not to publish this"... and yet... if I remain unpublished (Hey, it's a market... which doesn't tend to like unknowns), then.. maybe I'll self publish.

My main reason for self-publshing would be, and why I've thought of it... my illustrations. I have illustrations to go with my novel. I've also got a couple of cover designs, one which I am quite fond of. You see, that's the artist aspect and graphic designer aspect of me being tied into the writer aspect for my book. Not too many comapanies will take author-illustrations with manuscripts - that is, for books not intended for children. A self-publishing house ( and I've looked at 1st Books ) does do that, and one can have one's own cover design for their book, too. One doesn't have to rely on outside artists to design that if they have an artist-friend or are an artist themselves with the self-publishing.

It would be nice to find a publishing house that is willing to look at my illustrations once they've looked at my manuscript (and, thus far, I haven't found any that are even willing to do that!)... but... you know, I might not, so self-publishing might be the way to go for me when I can afford it.

Sorry for getting off topic.