how do you copy-write a piece of work?

Answer 1

You don't. From the moment you write sometihing, you legally own the rights to it. Of course, if you pass it around to your friends of share it on the internet, you are risking that copyright.

1) As for the so called "poor man's copyright " where you mail your work to yourself, it isn't worth the 42 cents postage. There are dozens of ways to beat it. And no judge is going to allow it to stand. All it proves is that on a certain day, you were in possession of certain pieces of paper with writing on them. It in no way proves you to be the author of those words. The only way to defend a copyright is with a an expensive lawyer. Unless we are talking about a best seller like The Da Vinci Code, there is very little value in spending thousands of dollars to defend your copyright. Kiss your work good-bye and write another. You will lose in court and owe a lawyer tons of money. Not worth the effort.

2) Purchasing a copyright from the US Government. Another bad idea. It shows publishers and agents you do not trust them. Publishers and agents are not in the habit of stealing author's work and they get quite offended when you copyright in advance. It is very unprofessional and is like you are accusing them of stealing. If and when you sell a work, a clause in a standard authors contract will state that the publisher will obtain that copyright for you - in your name. If you have checked your publisher out first and know them to be legit, trust them. That is where Preditors and Editors, Absolute Write Water Cooler's Bewares and Background Checks, Anne Crispin's sties et al come in handy. If there are problems with that publisher, you wil know very fast to avoid them.

Always present yourself as a professional. Do your research. Learn to advocate for yourself.

The absolutely safest way to protect the rights to your material is to keep it off the internet and not share it with anyone except a professional editor you pay for their services. Forget "free online beta readers. They are total strangers. Isn't there something kind of strange about a total stranger giving you their e mail address and asking you to send them your work? There sure is to me.

Forget posting it on writers sites - you are sharing your work with hundreds or thousand potential plagiarists. More and more publishers are refusing any material that has been previously posted on the internet. Why? Because it is costing them a fortune in legal fees to determine original ownership of a work. They just don't want the hassle or the lawsuits. Who can blame them?

I myself had a wonderful story stolen I wrote for a friend's site as a gift. It was sent back to me several months later by another friend who said "You have to read this story!!" It had another person's name on it. There was little I could do. I was stupid. Now, the only people I bounce story ideas off are my writing partner/editor and my son. I trust nobody else.

I post this information here repeatedly. Hopefully sooner or later people will start sharing the message. Pax- C

Answer 2

A copy writer is a person who writes copy--particularly for advertisements, publicity, press releases and that kind of thing.

A piece of work you've written is copyrighted (you alone have the *right* to copy it) as soon as you've written it. You don't have to do anything. While you can register your copyright through the Library of Congress, it's not necessary, and for most people isn't worth the time and money (because there is a fee). If you're going to distribute your writing in any way (on paper, on the web, whatever), put the copyright symbol (a "c" inside a circle), the year, and your name, and this will indicate to everyone that that piece of work belongs to you and they're not allowed to use it.

The so-called "poor-man's copyright," (putting something in an envelope and mailing it to yourself) is useless. It has no legal standing at all and proves nothing about who the original creator of the work was.

Answer 3

To copy write, you just write the text to convey the message(s) intended.

To copyright creative works, you have two real and court-standing options that can produce you witnesses able to take the stand on behalf of arguing that they wholeheartedly believe and can prove the work to be yours:

(1) send a copy of the completed work, along with the proper completed form and relative fee, to the Library of Congress to cover your work for several decades, and upon/near expiration you apply for the extended copyright that will cover it for several more decades

(2) make sure more than two people have access to it on the same day at the same time (i.e., read your poem live at a show or when you call in and are on-air with a local radio station; publish your book or CD so people can buy it; photocopy your completed work and give it to two or more people in the same place at the same time, etc.)

Answer 4

The "poor man's copyright", i.e. mailing the work to yourself, does NOT have any legal standing. It even says this clear as day to anyone with half a brain that bothers to read the copyright.gov website! I don't understand why people STILL insist on spreading this myth.

Please go to copyright.gov for all the truth about copyright.

Answer 5

to furnish you a clean answer. definite in theory all Chopin's products are copyright loose, the copyright has long expired. in spite of the undeniable fact that the complicated area is that publishing companies have copyright on their printings of the music. All in all, i would not think of two times approximately downloading for loose because of fact those companies have contributed no longer something to the music yet ink and paper. bypass acquire, have exciting, take exhilaration in playstation - i replaced into bearing on the sheet music publishers

Answer 6

The link below will give you the information on how to copyright a work in the US.

wl

Answer 7

It's "copyright" and everything is handled through the Library of Congress (that's how they get all of their books and such).


Go to this site:

http://www.copyright.gov/

Answer 8

ive found the best way to copy-write something is to put it in an envelope and mail it to your self. the original copy that is. that way if anyone steals your work it has the postage date on it. you cant open it though of couse because then the copy-write would be voided