What is the fastest, cheapest and easiest to way to copyright something.
2006-12-27 10:40:13 · 4 answers · asked by john d 1 in Politics & Government ➔ Law & Ethics
When you create a work you automatically have copyright to it, as per the Berne Convention. You can't get faster, cheaper, or easier than that.
Note, however, that in the USA you can only receive statutory damages for copyright infringement if the copyright is registered at the United States Copyright Office. This costs $45 USD.
Trademarks and patents, on the other hand, are both expensive and time-consuming.
Edit: According to the USCO "The practice of sending a copy of your own work to yourself is sometimes called a 'poor man’s copyright.' There is no provision in the copyright law regarding any such type of protection, and it is not a substitute for registration." See also Snopes Urban Legends:
http://www.snopes.com/legal/postmark.asp
2006-12-27 10:48:06 · answer #1 · answered by versus 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
By doing it yourself. Go to http://www.uspto.gov/# for more information on doing it yourself, or to www.legalzoom.com if you wish to have a little help. Good luck!
2006-12-27 10:46:29 · answer #2 · answered by tamali 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You can't mail it to yourself. thats an urban legend. first poster response is the correct one.
2006-12-27 11:11:17 · answer #3 · answered by arus.geo 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
mail it to yourself, when it comes back DON'T open it, you have to maintain what's called "chain of custody" just keep it on file for future reference, if somebody plagarises your work, take the unopened package to a lawyer, you basically say "I wrote this on this (postmark) date" which will ante-date the date of the published (plagarised) work
2006-12-27 10:56:49 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋