How to Have a Copyright

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By doban
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Article Rating: (5 Ratings)

Know if you need to have a copyright for your work

Are you wondering if you need to have a copyright? If you produced something such as a writing, a photo or motion picture, music, architecture, a computer program, or the like, you will want to have a copyright to protect your work. You will want to have complete control over how it is used and having a copyright is easier than you might think,

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

An original work that you produced

Step 1

You automatically have a copyright if you produced your work after March of 1989 and you are living in the U.S. or the work was first published in the U.S. However, unless it is a very brief work (like an eHow article), you really should do more then just assume a copyright.
Step 2

Place a copyright notice on your work.
This is not required, but it helps to protect you. The notice really means that other people cannot claim innocence that they did not know the work was copyrighted. It also helps to protect you if they copy a portion of your work and try to claim that it is theirs or that they produced it first.

To place a copyright notice on your work, simply use the © (this is done by typing control alt c) or type the word "copyright" followed by the first date of publication and then the name of the author.

If your work is a recording, then use the letter P in the circle instead of the c and place the notice on the label or the container.
Step 3

To really protect your copyright, register it with the Library of Congress, Copyright office.

Registering you copyright with the copyright office helps to protect you if someone uses your work and you wind up in court. It also places your copyright registration on record for the public to see. To register your copyright, simply go to the location in the "resources" section below and complete the application. It can be completed online. There will be a small fee. Your registration is effective when it is received and you will receive papers back from the Copyright Office. The process is fairly simple, quick and inexpensive.

Comments

tracysmith159 said

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on 7/18/2009 Great way to protect your work.

waters said

on 6/23/2009 Great article on how to have a copyright. 5*

isatoy said

on 6/21/2009 How do I copyright the name for a dance group? Thanks
I did a search and no ne has the name. I want to copyright it before we start performing. I came up with it.