How to Copyright Your Work

There is nothing worse than discovering that someone has stolen your work, especially when you have worked long and hard to protect it. Copyright infringements are growing in regularity with the advent of the Internet and the availability of information, but the copyright laws are just as strict as they were before the World Wide Web.

What most people don’t understand is that you don’t have to register your work with the federal government in order to protect your words from being appropriated by a third party. Simply placing a notice at the end of your work, stating that you hold the copyright, is sufficient to grant you the intellectual property rights.
this eventuality by copyrighting your work as soon as it is finished.

Copyrights can be confusing until you understand how they work. Essentially, any work – no matter what the substance – is protected under International copyright law the minute it has been recorded in “fixed form”. And this doesn’t just apply to published material; as soon as you’ve written it down, it’s yours. This is the somewhat fine line that separates a “creation” from an “idea”.

If you’re nervous about your work and fear its theft, you can always guarantee even more protection by registering your work with the copyright administration. It costs $30.00 to officially copyright your book, article, manual or website, and once you’ve copyrighted your work, it is good for at least seventy years after your death.

When you’ve registered your work, you have more legal recourse should your creation be stolen. You can report the copyright infringement to the copyright office and sue in civil court for the damages incurred. Copyright is taken very seriously in the United States, and you should go to whatever necessary lengths to protect yourself.

If, however, you decide not to register your work, a simple notice at the end of the document will suffice. Although it isn’t required, this further signifies that your work is your own, and that you are the owner of the rights to the work.

The following line is standard:

�© 2006 Your Name. All Rights Reserved.

This tells people that your document was created in 2006, that it was created by you, and that you retain all rights to the work. At one point, “All Rights Reserved” was required, though it is more a matter of preference now.

It is also not required to use the copyright symbol. Some people simply put the letter “c” between two parentheses – (c) – or write “Copyright 2006” without the symbol entirely. Just be sure that you use the correct symbol; the registered symbol – Ã?® – is reserved for work that has been registered as such, and the trademark symbol is for logos and designs.

When registering your copyright, you will most likely use Form SR, which is currently $30.00. However, the price will go up to $45.00 effective July 1, 2006.

You can register your copyright by calling the U.S. copyright office at (202) 707-5959 or by visiting them on the Internet at http://www.copyright.gov/.