Your work must be published in order to get copyright protection?

Question

so that's mean true?? right? not false

Answer 1

No that's not true: http://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-protect.html#published

Hope that helps!

Answer 2

If you want to protect your work you must get it copyrighted. If published a publisher will copyright it. You can get anything you write copyrighted by contacting the copyright office in Washington D.C. and providing them with the work you want protected. You do not need a formal publishing.
It's like an invention - you apply for a patent prior to disclosing what you have to potential manufacturers. Then, you can freely let it out and no one can use your material to "invent" their own.
With the written word it is less defined because we may accidentally hit on the same idea, plot, character, etc. of another writer in years past. But it is the content of the writing, the phrases, the kinds of things that rather easily document your work as original. Today, the copyright people can "Google" so much that the process is faster and more accurate.
Just don't try to get away with this opener: "It was a dark and stormy night........"

Answer 3

It is a common misconception that you must do something formal in order to obtain copyright protection in your written work. In truth copyright protection attaches to any original work you create, even if you jot a few lines of text on a napkin. It is, however, a good idea to place a copyright legend on any work that you value, since that puts the world on notice that you are the copyright owner and makes it easier to sue for damages if the copyright is infringed.

Answer 4

Technically, you can copyright your written work by mailing the manuscript or disc to yourself in a sealed envelope and leaving it sealed until well after publication. This is because, by the law, the very moment that you begin the work, and when you end the work, it is yours. You can, and should, put the copyright symbol on the byline: Bees in her bonnet
(c) 2006 By
Willoughby Termantiler

You should look into the rules, though, so you will be better prepared and protected.
Good Luck!