Is it true that you can copyright material by simply mailing it to yourself and not opening it until needed?

Question

I've heard that you can copyright material by mailing it to yourself and not opening it until proof that the material is yours is needed. The post marked date on the package serves as the date the material was "copyrighted." Is this true?

Answer 1

No, the mail-it-to-yourself trick is an urban legend.

In the United States, copyright is automatic now as soon as the work is fixed in tangible form. However, if you really want to protect your work, or you expect you might need to enforce it in court, you must register it with the copyright office.

Answer 2

No you don't have to and it is not very useful to do so.
Under current US law that matches most of the world, you have copyright the moment you create something - you don't have to do anything else.
The problems have to do with proving the date of creation if you get in conflict with someone else who claims it is theirs or who publishes your material. The postmarked envelope can only be opened once and unless you keep your material in a bound notebook, getting one page of a manuscript notarized doesn't prove anything about the rest of the pages and finding a notary who will do a lot of pages is unlikely. You SHOULD keep printed backups of computer generated material that are date stamped either with a generated date on the print out or CR-R file dates.
What you want to decide is when you are going to REGISTER the copyright, which is what you do with the Library of Congress, and whether you need to. If you are writing for publication, then the publication will copyright the issue. If you are publishing yourself, then you need to put a proper copyright notice on each article or item.
In the old days, you could lose the copyright by publishing without a notice, but that changed a couple of decades ago and now the copyright is yours until and only if you provide a written release to the public domain with publication (or put it in a publication which has such a notice, like Wikipedia.)

Answer 3

Rob, and answers like his, are right.
There's never been a documented case of the "poor man's copyright" working as proof in any copyright action in the U.S.

Now, in the U.K., where there is NO official copyright registrar, this method is actually suggested as one way to prove your ownership and the date of its creation:
http://www.ipo.gov.uk/copy/c-claim/c-register.htm

This is where this "rumor" comes from. But, if you're actually going to show your work to someone, and you believe that it has value, why not pay the few bucks it costs and just register the work yourself?
It's pretty easy at http://www.copyright.gov. And then you're entitled to statutory damages and/or attorneys fees if the infringement occurs after registration.

Answer 4

You heard wrong.

The material is copyright when you place it in fixed form.

Putting it in an envelope is a waste of time, unless you plan to register the copyright. doing so will entitle you to collect certain damages you would not otherwise be entitled too, should you be infringed.

Start researching definitive answers at www.chillngeffects.org as always.

Answer 5

No.

That is referred to colloquially as a "poor man's copyright" but has no significance, except as evidence that you created it. The U.S. government copyright website says the following about it: "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."

Your work has a copyright as soon as you put it in fixed form, but the registration is your key to ENFORCING your rights.

If you want to file suit and enforce your rights as to material you create, you MUST register your work. See http://www.copyright.gov for forms and fees.

Answer 6

While you are protected from the date of creation on the copy rights, whether you file them or not, the described procedure will not be admissable as proof of the date of creation.
A much simpler way to protect your rights, is to have the work witnessed, dated and notarized.

Answer 7

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Answer 8

You get it copyrighted first, and then mail it to yourself.
That way you can prove the date, on which you had your item
already copyrighted. Just make sure you have "proof" copy.
In case the other gets "lost in the mail." <}:-})

Answer 9

It will not prove anything. Take an empty unsealed envelope and mail it to yourself. At a later date you can put anything inside it and seal. What does it prove?
✩

Answer 10

no it is copyrighted after you write it. you do not have to jump in the air 3 times, twist in a circle to the left and then the right and say"hoola lala" backwards and snap your fingers.