Copyrights: How to Protect Something That Is Photocopied
You work hard to produce excellent materials. You include illuminating descriptions, add your own incisive insights and craft the perfect wording to communicate with your readers effectively. But now that the hard work is done, what's to prevent someone else from simply photocopying your work and presenting it as their own? By taking a few simple steps, you can protect your intellectual property while still making it available to the widest possible audience.
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Instructions
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Prominently display your byline on any materials that you create for distribution. It may be as simple as including "by Karen Smith" under your title, or "compiled by Ken Stevens" on your "10 Ways To Earn More Now" hand-out, but including your own name as the author is a clear statement of ownership which will discourage unauthorized use of your materials.
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Include a copyright notice. Copyright notices are typically displayed at the bottom of a work of intellectual property, and should always include the word "Copyright" or the "(c)" copyright symbol, your name and the date the work was created. This legal notice of ownership will become critical evidence should you ever need to dispute ownership with someone who's taken your materials without your permission.
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Create a copyright watermark. A copyright notification watermark is the ultimate protection from unauthorized photocopying of your work. By creating a copyright notice in a lighter print that lies behind the text of your work (leaving the text legible but the copyright notice still visible), you make it impossible for someone who wants to steal your materials to remove your copyright notice with white-out or correction tape. Simply adjust the darkness of the copyright watermark in your word processing software and place it behind your main text. (Alternately, you can accomplish this by printing your materials and the watermark onto two separate pages, and then photocopying the materials onto pages that have already been printed with the watermark.)
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Tips & Warnings
While creators of original work automatically own the copyright to it, you may also choose to register your copyright with the U.S. Copyright Office. Registration will not prevent unauthorized use of your work, but it would serve as further proof of your claim to copyright should you be forced to take legal action to protect your work. Consult the link in the Resources section below for more information.
Resources
- Photo Credit copy machine image by Mat Hayward from Fotolia.com
