How to Copyright a Design
A copyright is a form of intellectual property meant to protect the creator of an original creative work against unwanted reproductions of his work. When a person creates a new original work, he or she has already technically secured the copyright for that work, simply by creating it. The problem is that copyrights that are not officially registered are difficult to defend legally if someone tries to steal the idea or copy it, so many copyright holders register them to further protect their ideas.
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Instructions
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Determine whether your design can be copyrighted. Copyrights are meant to protect original creative works, such as music, fine art, literature, poems and dance. Only actual works themselves can be copyrighted, not the methods used to create them. A technical design for an invention is something that must be patented, not copyrighted.
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Go the the U.S. Copyright Office website, www.copyright.gov.
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Click the "Registration" tab.
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Click "Electronic Copyright Office," and follow the instructions given to fill out your copyright registration forms. You will have to provide detailed descriptions of the design you are copyrighting. You will also have to register to log into the copyright office site if you haven't done so before.
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Use your bank account information to pay the $35 electronic filing fee before submitting the application. You can return to the site to check the status of your application.
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Tips & Warnings
Copyrights, trademarks and patents are each meant to protect different types of intellectual property. In general, securing and registering copyrights (the right to reproduce an original creative work) is the easiest and cheapest, while filing patents (protections against new inventions and designs) involves a complicated legal process which can get fairly expensive due to legal fees.
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Comments
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nabinbuzz
Jun 15, 2010
I have a created a web template for a game site for a Greece web company. They are in so hurry for development that i send them PSD without any legal contract because i believed their words. But after getting psd, job provider company neither send my service charge nor do reply to my email for a long time. So i want to have copyright to my creation since client did not pay penny for that template and if they release website using my template. What legal actions can i take against that fraud web company if they release website using my template without giving money. I have proof of all email between us.
