How do you create a copyright?

Answer 1

Under the laws of more than 160 countries, copyright is granted automatically to the author upon the event of recording a creative work of expression in a tangible form, be it paint on canvas, pixels in a digital camera, or pencil on paper.

Under USA law, since 1989 there have been no "formalities" required to obtain copyright -- prior to that the publication may have been required to be registered or marked with a copyright notice (Copyright, date, name of author). Copyright notice is optional today, but may be useful as evidence that an infringement was "willful", which is an element of a criminal copyright indictment.

Copyright ownership and priority may be easier to prove if it is registered with the Copyright Office in a person's government. The drawback is that you must pay a fee and submit a copy to have any work registered. Forms can be obtained online through the Library of Congress. A registration may also make it simpler for potential licensees to locate the proper owners of copyrights.

As a bonus, the US Copyright Office registration allows the registered copyright owner to sue for "statutory damages" in lieu of having to prove "actual" damages.

Answer 2

Bear in mind that it isn't necessary to take any action for a work to be protected. Copyright protection is automatic, as soon as work of sufficient originality is "fixed in a tangible medium, perceptible to human eye, machine reader or other device".

If you wish to formally register a copyright, contact the copyright office in your country for the proper procedure.

Answer 3

A copyright is a legal claim to the right to copy (reproduce and publish) a work. A statement of copyright is a statement of the author's or creator's intent to be protected under international copyright law. To qualify for copyright protection, a work must be original, and the copyright is for a set period of time, the lifetime of the author plus 70 years. If the author used another name on the work (pen name, stage name ect.) then the work is protected for 95 years from the date it was published or 120 years from the date it was created.

Under the Berne Convention, to which the U.S. subscribes, copyright of a work is automatic and does not require a special formal statement. However, the copyright notice can be useful in a legal action.

See Related Link for some more information about copyright.

Answer 4

To copywrite would be to write some copy, e.g. text for a selling purpose. However, for something to be under copyright, it only has to be unique and created. Any piece of art, including text, is automatically copyrighted if unique at the time of its creation. (For example, I can not claim copyright for the word EXAMPLE. But I could claim copyright on this whole explanation. This means that you can not copy and paste this into your own work claiming you are the author and then make profit on it. Copyright is only relevant when it's profitable. No one can deny anyone to read this explanation in a class room, or print it and hang it on ones own wall at home.) The copyright is also usually tied to its context, and therefore some material can be copied and put into new context (that actually changes the content and its meaning drastically) and sold or publish legally. The copyright-c (a c in a circle) is a symbol guiding the reader to whom the content belong and when it was created. At the bottom of the page I'm publishing this, I find: Copyright © 2008 Answers Corporation This means that Answers Corporation see themselves as creator of this web-page and its content. The laws of copyright probably differs from country to country, but this is broadly how it works. The copyright is often ignored some years after its creators death and there is no apparent owner in form of company or other. Classical Music composed hundreds of years ago usually applies, although the modern recordings of the classical music (or the fresh printed note-sheet) is in itself under copyright.

Answer 5

There is a company that you must have look at your idea, then you can get it trademarked, and then copyrighted.

The above answer refers more to patents and design rights than copyrights. In Canada and the United States (and other countries) copyright in and to an original work of an artisitic, literary or musical nature automatically belongs to the author, writer or artist, with no requirement of formal filing. Therefore, if you have composed an original song or poem, painted a picture, created a sculpture, or have written a manuscript or book, you automatically own the rights to that work. Also, you own those rights in any country that has a reciprocal copyright agreement with your home country.

However, since authorship or ownership can be disputed, it is advisable to establish proof of your claim and this can be done a number of ways, not the least of which is to have witnesses who can attest to its authenticity. Also, a sealed, dated and notorized copy of the work can also serve as prima facie evidence in the case of a dispute.

If you are Canadian and you are the originator of literary or musical works, you should visit the website of Industry Canada's "Canadian Intellectual Property Office". This will tell you all you need to know.

Answer 6

Copyright protection is automatic as soon as a work of sufficient originality is fixed in a tangible medium; no further action is required. If formal registration is available in your country, you may choose to do this as well.

Answer 7

You don't need to "create" anything. Copyright protection is automatic, as soon as a work of sufficient originality is "fixed in a tangible medium, perceptible to human eye, machine reader or other device". There is no requirement to register a copyright or even to display a copyright notice for a work to be protected.

However if you want or need the additional protection a formally registered copyright can provide, contact the copyright office in your country for the proper procedure and applicable fees.

Answer 8

Works of sufficient originality are automatically protected by copyright as soon as they are fixed in a tangible medium.

Answer 9

Protection is automatic as soon as a work of sufficient creativity is fixed in a tangible medium.