The best way is to place an imprint of your signature on the statue, indicating that you are the one who made it.
Also, go to U.S. Imprinting Office in order to officially make your sculpture copyrighted.
The original sculpture and all variants are protected by copyright.
If you are creating original things--music, sculpture, poetry, photographs--your work is automatically protected by copyright as soon as it is fixed in a tangible medium.
Copyright law protects original creative works, such as sculpture, music, and books. Patent law protects inventions and processes, such as pharmaceuticals, machines, and hybrid plants.
"an object that has a meaning" is rather a curious turn of phrase. If you mean a sculpture, an object with a symbolic meaning, it would be protected by copyright as soon as it is fixed in a tangible medium. A patent would be more appropriate for a new type of object with a useful function.
A particular inuksuk could be protected as a sculpture, but inuksuit as a type of sculpture would not be owned by anyone. It would be like saying I own watercolor or guitar music.
The moment an artist creates a piece of work, be it music, lyrics, painting, sculpture, books, photographs.
A physical object can either contain a copy of a creative work (e.g., a CD or DVD is a physical object with works recorded on them), or the physical work may, itself, be subject of copyright in its design (such as sculpture, architecture).
All of his works would be in the public domain; however photographers can claim copyright on their photographs of his works. Please see the link below for images of the 1770 and 1777 sculptures called Orfeo.
How does Mesopotamian sculpture differ from Egypt sculpture?
Works such as sculpture, painting, music, and choreography are protected for the life of the creator plus 50 years, although the US and several other countries have extended this to 70 years.
How can there be an antonym? What could the opposite of sculpture be? Non-sculpture?
I created a sculpture. The sculpture is beautiful.