Question of copyright?

Question

I have been releasing art work on my 360,produced by my daughters . It has been produced on Microsoft paint .
My oldest daughter has written and illustrated a childrens book it is very good.
I would like to share it with the yahoo 360 public, though I am afraid that it could be stolen and, published , by some one
.
Is copyright expensive how do I go about obtaining copyright to protect my daughter from those who wouls steel from her.

Answer 1

The above answer is flatly wrong, except for the part about consulting an intellectual property attorney - which is always a good idea.

Copyrights are created automatically, by operation of law, when an individual creates something by placing it in a medium from which it can be retrieved. Creating a document on a computer counts - saving the document automatically creates a copyright for the author at the moment the document is saved.

Registration of a copyright is a different matter. That is done by the Library of Congress. http://www.copyright.gov/register/

Registration is used to establish ownership of a work, and serves to create a presumption if there is litigation over ownership of the work. It's not particularly expensive or difficult to register a mark. Follow the link above.

Answer 2

You will need a storngly worded disclaimer on the hosting site. Also, take some advice from a good IP lawyer. a lot of commercial law firm sites have freely available information.

The problem with copyright is in proving that there is the 'mark of persperation' on the work, and that it is not a direct plagiarism.