Simple Ways to Protect Your Creative Work

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Simple Ways to Protect Your Creative Work

By Stephen Bucaro

Being productive and creative gives importance and meaning
to the lives of many people. In some cases, it may also
provide them with a means to earn a living. Unfortunately,
other people feel that it is easier to just steal someone
else's work. How can a creative individual protect their
work from thieves?

Any work you create is automatically protected by copyright
law from the moment you create it until 50 years after your
death. To receive this protection, you must mark your work
with the word "Copyright" and the copyright symbol ©
followed by the date that the work was created.

Obviously a thief can easily remove your copyright notice
or replaced with one of their own. If legal action is
required to stop a thief from using your work, you will be
required to PROVE that you were the original creator of the
work.

Proof of original authorship includes anything that can be
accepted as evidence in court. Along with witnesses, you
can submit sales receipts, and email or postal messages
related to the work. If a customer returns your material,
you should save the receipt and packing material as
possible evidence.

A common method of establishing proof of authorship is to
mail or ship yourself a copy or photograph of the work.
The postmark or shipping seal on the unopened package
becomes evidence of the date that the work was created.

After you establish your rights to the work, you must then
prove the amount of monetary damages caused by the theft.
That requires that you provide evidence of sales revenue
that you lost and revenue received by the thief for your
work.

The best protection for your work can can be achieved by
registering it with the U.S. Copyright Office. You will be
required to provide a sample or photograph of your work
with your application along with a $20 fee. It may take
six months or more before the registration takes effect.
The U.S. Copyright Office will then keep the copy of your
work in storage for five years.

If legal action is required against a thief of your work,
U.S. Copyright Office registration is almost indisputable
proof of your rights to the work. Registration also allows
you to recover legal costs in addition to lost revenue.

For more information, visit the U.S. Copyright Office Web
site at http://www.loc.gov/copyright/ . Download the
publication "Copyright Basics"

Don't let a thief rob you of the rewards and recognition
you deserve from your hard work and creativity. You can
protect your work by taking the simple steps described
above.
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