Poetry Copyright?

Question

I write alot of poetry and would like to publish them one day I was wondering how I would go about getting them copyrighted and then published, Thanks.

Answer 1

First, good for you!!!! Keep it up. Poetry nourishes the soul.

I'm not a copyright attorney but what I've been told is that anything original we write is protected from the moment we write it. You can get info on how to copyright your book at www.copyright.gov/forms/

You can decide whether you want to copyright it before it is printed or after.

Publishing: that's a whole different matter. I just published books of poetry on the computer to give to our family but if you want a "real book" you need a publisher. There are many ways to go: Print on Demand publishers charge you to publish your book and then for each book. If it's a small book that is reasonable. If it is large, what they charge is too much. At about 150 pages it's pretty reasonable.

If that doesn't work, you contact small publishing companies and see if any of them will work with you.

If you would like to email me, I can give you more information and answer specific questions about that process.

Good luck! And keep writing.

Answer 2

It is a little known fact that as long as you put the copyright symbol, the date, and your name on each of your writings that the laws pertaining to copyright protection apply.

Adding the symbol/date/name shows INTENT to copyright- this has been court tested to have equal weight to a document officially registered at the copyright office.

It might be important to note that once you have shown intent to copyright that the document can never be sold, assigned, donated, or given away, that it can only be licensed to those who might publish it or use it some other way.

Answer 3

You don't really have to DO anything to get a copyright... technically, you probably already have one. Copyright laws go into effect the second something is set into a 'permanent media' which not only includes paper, but also hard drives these days.

Of course, writing something down may not be entirely enough. It is sometimes a good idea to be able to prove WHEN you wrote something down...

The best low-budget means I've heard of to do this is to put a copy in a well-sealed envelope and mail it to yourself. The envelope will have a postmark from a federal post office which is good enough as evidence in any court of law. Then, if you are ever called to court to defend yourself, you can open the letter in court and use the court records of the date on the letter for any future cases.

Let's hope it never comes to that!

Answer 4

You own the copyright to all of your own work. You don't have to obtain copyrights. Publishers buy first rights or serial rights but you keep the copyright. As for getting published, enter contests and submit your poems to magazines.

Some people might tell you about the "mail it to yourself," trick. That's just a rumour. It's isn't true.

Answer 5

see a copyright attorney
see a publisher

Answer 6

you can copyright the poems yourself, either individually or as a collection. Here's some helpful reading:
http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ1.html