Per the United States Gov. Copyright Office Basics
Dyspepsia boils inside our throat spews out our mouth when we think of placing our prized work online.
The first thought that comes to the author’s mind am I protected by the Copyright Laws and the answer is yes.
To further insure your copyright protection place the Copyright © 200X by (your name) symbol at the end of your work.
Copyright protection subsists from the time the work is created in fixed form. The copyright in the work of authorship immediately becomes the property of the author who created the work. Only the author or those deriving their rights through the author can rightfully claim copyright.
Copyright protection is available for all unpublished works, regardless of the nationality or domicile of the author.
What Works Are Protected?
Copyright protects “original works of authorship” that are fixed in a tangible form of expression. The fixation need not be directly perceptible so long as it may be communicated with the aid of a machine or device. Copyrightable works include the following categories:
- 1. literary works;
2. musical works, including any accompanying words
3. dramatic works, including any accompanying music
4. pantomimes and choreographic works
5. pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works
6. motion pictures and other audiovisual works
7. sound recordings
8. architectural works
These categories should be viewed broadly. For example, computer programs and most “compilations” may be registered as “literary works”; maps and architectural plans may be registered as “pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works.”
