How would I get a character copyrighted for a comic?

Question

I have a close friend as a notary and I was wondering if anyone knows of a way to get a cheap, legal copyright

Answer 1

Through registered mail. Send it to your self.

Answer 2

There's only one way, and that's to file a copyright with the US Copyright office, for the $35. However, you do automatically have anything the public sees automatically be copyrighted soon as they see it, it's just the 'form' you need in case of legal concerns--so you are covered soon as you do the art.

The myth that you can mail yourself something in a sealed envelope won't hold up in court, people can say you mailed yourself an open envelope, which you later can put in anything you want. The 'poor mans' copyright' is a total myth and useless. Having it notarized is a waste of time too.

Registered mail is the same--it won't hold up in court because it can be tampered with after delivery. The ONLY thing that holds up is the official filing with the US Copyright office.

Really, it's so easy to file a copyright, use form VA (short form) which takes a whopping 3 minutes to fill out. I've filed twice, for artwork I was publishing. At this point in time, with all the precautions they took after 9/11 it takes about 9 months to get your forms back, whereas it used to take 6 weeks. But soon as you drop your thing in the mail to them you're covered, for the filing. It's in effect soon as it hits the post office.