i am from delhi india. i have written some very useful material and i have recorded some audio and video material also. i want to get all this material copyrighted. what is the easiest and best way?
2006-10-04 08:41:05 · 5 answers · asked by sufiesidhi 1 in Politics & Government ➔ Law & Ethics
Copyright is something that happens automatically and there is no procedure to be gone through. For example, all the answers on this page are copyright of their respective authors. This page itself is copyrighted and you'll notice at the bottom it says "Copyright © 2006 Yahoo! Inc". Yahoo won't have registered this page or posted copies of it to themselves because they know that simply creating this page gives them the copyright it.
Copyright law varies from country to country. There are also different laws governing different formats, e.g. video, sound, broadcasts, published volumes.
In respect of your writings, Audio and Video (assuming it was made by yourself as an individual, that you were the principal director and that you weren't hired to make those things) then in many countries around the world you will be granted a 'life plus 70' copyright, meaning copyright exists for the duration of your life and 70 years thereafter.
There are some countries, for example Iran, where there are no copyright rules. Ib others, such as India, the term is 'life plus 60'.
Once a copyright has expired the work passes into the Public Domain which allows for free reproduction at will.
Now, although you automatically own the copyright the important thing is to be able to *prove* that you own it. You need to be able to prevent someone copying your work and claiming it to be their own. The easiest way to do this is to register your work with some publisher or library for which you will need to complete a form, submit a copy of your work and pay the some fee.
Self mailing is not recogsized at all times by the court.
2006-10-08 01:01:14 · answer #1 · answered by King of the Net 7 · 7⤊ 0⤋
It's called a poor mans copyright-- mail the items to yourself and leave them sealed. Make sure to store them some place where they won't get wet or faded as the post mark is proof you'll need if someone should steal your material years down the road.
You're only other 'legal' option is to go through the copyright office. If you do this, gather everything up you want copyrighted and call it the collected works of (your name here) and that way you'll only have to pay one fee for everything.
Good luck and have a great day!!!
2006-10-04 08:47:15 · answer #2 · answered by Coo coo achoo 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
self address it to yourself and don't open it when it comes in the mail. It's called poor man's copywright. Call library of congress in DC and have them send you copywright forms.
2006-10-04 08:50:46 · answer #3 · answered by Whyze 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The copyright is yours, you simply assert it as and when you publish.
2016-03-27 04:56:51 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Mail it to yourself and have a public notary present when you open it (or keep it sealed).
2006-10-04 08:43:04 · answer #5 · answered by Fire_God_69 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋