How to get copyrights to something?

Question

My friend and I are writing a book together, we want to promote the book before it is published, but we want to get copyrights to out book so that no one can steal our ideas...especially if we make a website and promote it from there.

Answer 1

http://copyright.gov/

Who Can Claim Copyright?
Copyright protection subsists from the time the work is created in fixed form. The copyright in the work of authorship immediately becomes the property of the author who created the work. Only the author or those deriving their rights through the author can rightfully claim copyright.

Answer 2

This question is asked hundreds of times and the answer is ALWAYS the same, dear! YOU don't copyright your alleged book, the PUBLISHER does that when it is published. I am talking LEGITIMATE publishing not some cheesy on line/vanity publisher that is not considered publishing in the REAL world! No one is going to steal your "brilliant" idea I can guarantee it. REAL, legitimate publishers don't have to do that as they have backlogs of material (literally year's worth of stuff) that they can use, and by writers whom I suspect are FAR MORE EXPERIENCED and TALENTED than you and your friend. If you ant ot put out a book on line (cheesy, cheesy, cheesy and all it does is assuage your vanity) then go right ahead, but if you try and copyright it, it will cost you money and NO ONE ELSE will ever touch the thing publishing-wise. I have to be honest here, the chances of it ever seeing print in the LEGITIMATE publishing world (again, not some farce of an on line web site or vanity press) is SLIM to none at all. Writing a book takes years of hard work and a lot of previous experience that I suspect you and your friend do not possess. You don't just sit down one day and say, hey, let's write a book. I have been in this field a VERY LONG TIME and believe me, they will steam roll over you faster than you can imagine. Get some REAL experience at the school newspaper first, go to college and take journalism and other writing courses, write volumes of unpublishable material, get some life experience, and then maybe you might be ready to get into SERIOUS writing. And please ignore the majority of people here, most of whom HAVEN'T A CLUE about the world of REAL publishing. They are little teens and preteens and also-rans. Wise up and get some REAL credentials and REAL experience!

Answer 3

1. Put a copyright notice on each page of teh work on the web
2. You can get a copyright from the USG but until then this notice along with the poor man's copyright will work. Do a back up of your work regularly and mail that disk to yourself. DO NOT OPEN IT. Keep this in a safe place. The date stamp on the disk proves when you completed your work in case you feel it's been stolen

best wishes!

Answer 4

publishers or look in your phone book