Copyright?

[Mr.Pushover]

So, yeah. I was thinking about posting some of my work (I write songs), and I wanted to find out how I can copyright them so no one can steal them.

Any suggestions, friends?

[Aya McCabre]

It depends on where you are but if you sign and date something then copyright should be automatic. Some writers unions also allow you to keep a copy of your work with them. It won't stop people stealing it but it means you have third party verification of when it was written if you should need it.

[Arex]

Like the person above me said, if you sign it and date it then its automatic copyright to you. As long as you hold the original then you have copyright.

[GhostDog]

According to the Berne Convention, you don't even have to sign and date something for it to be copyrighted to you. As soon as you created it, bam! It's your copyright.

You can register it, though, to make it easier to defend in court if someone rips off your stuff and tries to sell it.

[Idunnohereitis]

you could try out www.writers-network.com

and no i didnt just post a personal link to another website. its just the general website.

you wana post it on a domain or website that protects and author. Usually writting published on a specific URL, a personal website is automatically copywritten if you state on your page that it is yours and shouldnt be reproduced.
some large writting networks allow people to protect there work, like deviant art. i think people even write on there. theres a section for writting and you can chose to protect it.

Message me personally for more info. but publishing something on here or like facebook, i think that might actually enter the work into the public domain and allow for it to be manipulated. but if you state on the same page that it shouldnt be used or reproduced without consent, that could protect it some, but cuz its on a large message board and social network site, that is may not be protected. im not sure. i have books on copyrights for art and writting. i read the one like a year ago but it was so technical that i barely absorbed it. ill read it again adn reply to this more indepth if i remember

[Chip]

Copyright is created at the time of inception of the art. However, proving that you own the copyright is another matter entirely. The idea of signing and dating something, or mailing a letter to yourself that you don't open, have not been reliable methods of establishing copyright.

If you're in the US, you can register the copyright with the copyright office (copyright.gov) for a few bucks. That will give you a recorded record of when it was copyrighted so no one can claim ownership.

Now... that won't stop them from stealing your artwork. Look at all the pirated music, porn, movies, etc. All of those are copyrighted. What it will do is establish you as the owner so that if someone does steal it, you can take legal action to stop the theft. But that's expensive and difficult, and unless they're making commercial use of your art, rarely worth the effort and expense. So what you might do is simply watermark your artwork when you post it so it tracks back to your website or whatever. That will make it less likely that others will want to steal it.

It's not ideal, but it's about the most practical solution these days.

[Chip]

[QUOTE=Idunnohereitis;810875 publishing something on here or like facebook, i think that might actually enter the work into the public domain and allow for it to be manipulated.[/QUOTE]

One of the most common misconceptions about copyright. Posting or publishing any work anywhere does NOT make it enter the public domain. I hear people say all the time "It's on the internet/on facebook/on deviantart/on whatever, so it's in the public domain" but that's absolutely not true. Works only enter the public domain when copyright expires and cannot be renewed (effectively never, thanks to Disney and other large copyright holders), or when a creator of the work specifically contributes them to the public domain, which can't be done simply by posting something.

Now... someone can, under some circumstances, make a derivative work based on a copyrighted work, but what happens there is the original work is still protected by copyright, and an additional copyright is created for the derivative work. But the derivative cannot be used, published, posted, sold, etc unless there is a license agreement with the owner of the original work.