You automatically receive copyright protection as soon as a work of sufficient originality is fixed in a tangible medium that it is perceptible either directly or with the aid of a machine or device.
In the United States, you can also register your copyright with the U.S. Copyright Office which will provide benefits in addition to the automatic copyright. If you successfully sue someone for infringement of a registered work, you may be eligible for statutory damages and your attorney's fees. Also, if your registration is within 5 years of publication of the copyrighted work, the registration is considered prima facie evidence of your copyright in a court of law.
A corporate entity would not have a copyright date.
No, you would patent the wheels on a bus, not copyright.
No. Because copyright is technically a noun, you would say "protected by copyright" or "registered for copyright protection."
In the case of a work-made-for-hire, the copyright would be controlled by the entity that caused the work to be created, rather than the creator. A photographer under contract to a magazine, for example, would not have copyright for those photos.
Generally the writeup of the project would be protected by copyright.
A Copyright would protect an authors idea.
Copyright is a federal law which would be valid in California.
None. you wouldn't copyright the copyright symbol, you would trademark it.
Each issue would have its own copyright information; the first issue would be 2002.
The picture itself is protected by copyright; downloading it without permission would be copyright infringement.
Unless other arrangements were made, the creator would be the copyright holder.
Typically you would first need permission of the copyright holder.