how do you copyright your work?

Question

I have created a visual bible. I want to copyright my work. How do you do that? Is anyone in the publishing business that can give me some advice on publishing my bible.

Answer 1

Hey Richard T,

First, put a simple statement of intent to copyright, with the date, and your name.

Second, Copyright 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.

Answer 2

Get the book put out by Writer's Digest that lists all the publishers in the US and what they publish. I think it's called "Writer's Market" and it comes out every year. This book is available at most libraries and it will give you a good source to narrow down the publishers that would be most receptive to your kind of book.

Artwork is yours from the get-go. You don't have to copyright it, but you can print your name on the back, sign it, put the year and that little "c" in a circle to signify copyright.

Good luck getting your book published!

Answer 3

contact the copy right office in d.c and have at leadt 45 bux ready or you could do the "poor mans copyright" and mail yourself the work and never open it this way it has the date on it and the postal office has it on record

Answer 4

copyright your work, there is a book called "copyright law for dummies" and it is very informative...also has copyright application forms and pricing, though you may want to check on that, as my copy is several years old, and very well used and dog-eared.