need help getting a copyrite for a play I wrote?

Question

I need to know how to go about getting a copywrite for the plays that I have written to protect my work from unlawful use of them

Answer 1

The first answer is pretty good.

If you're really concerned about some one stealing your idea you should print a copy of the work. Buy a stamp. And mail it to yourself. If some one does steal your work you can go to court and say, "Oh hey, I have this un-opened letter post dated in July of 1997. Five years before the defendant published the work in question. I wonder what's in it? Do you want to see?"

Answer 2

The first answer is dead on, beware of the second answer. It is called a poor mans copywright and is an urban legend. The postmark does absolutely no good to you in the case of a copywright battle. The only sure way to protect your work is by registration of your copywright, it is a further protection and certified proof of the validity of your claim, any other "great ideas" you hear about should be approached with equal trepidation, the poor mans copywright is the most famous and offers absolutely no proof, after all who is to say that you mailed something else and are re-using an envelope with the older postmark.

Answer 3

You don't need help. Copyright is Secured Automatically upon Creation. The way in which copyright protection is secured is frequently misunderstood. No publication or registration or other action in the Copyright Office is required to secure copyright. (See following note.) There are, however, certain definite advantages to registration. See “Copyright Registration.”

Copyright is secured automatically when the work is created, and a work is “created” when it is fixed in a copy or phonorecord for the first time. “Copies” are material objects from which a work can be read or visually perceived either directly or with the aid of a machine or device, such as books, manuscripts, sheet music, film, videotape, or microfilm. “Phonorecords” are material objects embodying fixations of sounds (excluding, by statutory definition, motion picture soundtracks), such as cassette tapes, CDs, or LPs. Thus, for example, a song (the “work”) can be fixed in sheet music (“copies”) or in phonograph disks (“phonorecords”), or both. If a work is prepared over a period of time, the part of the work that is fixed on a particular date constitutes the created work as of that date.

Source: http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ1.html#hsc

Answer 4

Go to :

www.copyright.gov

All the info you need is there.