Copyright . . . How To Protect Your Work:

It is important that you protect your creative work. After all, it's your hard work and sweat and tears poured into it so you may as well do what you can to make certain it remains yours.

There are three ways you can protect your work:

> When you post a written piece here whether it be a chapter or the entire body of work make certain you take these measures:

* In the posting title write a (c) the year and your name as in . . .

(c) 2001 J. Doe

* On the first line of each post containing your work repeat the above step.


> Once the work is completed in its entirety, including the editing and revisions make sure you further protect yourself by following these easy instructions:

* Copy the complete work onto a floppy disk
* Place the disk in a sealed envelope
* Mail it to yourself
* When it arrives DO NOT OPEN IT. The post mark on the envelope will stand up in a court of law if someone has plagerized your work AS LONG AS THE ENVELOPE REMAINS SEALED.


> Still not convinced you have enough protection? Then register your work with the United States Copyright Office, a division of the United States Library of Congress. There is a nominal fee for registration but it's not going to break the bank. To register your work you'll need to mail:

* A completed application
* A hard copy of your manuscript
* And the check.

The day it is received it is issued an id reference number and a certificate is then mailed to the author.


That's all there is to it. I'm sure one of these will work for you!

U.S. Copyright FAQ