You may be under the false impression that before you can get your text published, you must “get the copyright” to your own written material. You might also think that in order to get the copyright, you must “apply” for it. This is just not so. In the following few paragraphs, I’ll give you some simple facts about copyrights that may help you in your quest to get published.

Things You Might Like to Know about Copyrights

by Jan K., The Proofer

You may be under the false impression that before you can get your text published, you must “get the copyright” to your own written material. You might also think that in order to get the copyright, you must “apply” for it. This is just not so. In the following few paragraphs, I’ll give you some simple facts about copyrights that may help you in your quest to get published.

First, it is important to understand that you cannot “copyright” an idea; you can only copyright what you have written. That is, you might have just written the greatest self-help manual on how to breed guppies. And you did, indeed, file for your copyright with the Library of Congress. Three weeks after completing the formal copyrighting process, you find out that the manager of your neighborhood pet store (where you’ve been buying your guppies) has just sold the TV rights to a new hit show “Breeding Guppies” and he is using many of the same principles that you’ve outlined in your manual on how to go about guppy breeding.

So, naturally, since this is the 21st Century and you live in America, you want to sue the guy. You think you have a sure thing, and you are dreaming of the million-dollar award that the jury is sure to give you. But…you’d better not put a down payment on that Guppy Farm in Iowa just yet.

The manual you wrote, the exact words, phrases, sentences, paragraphs, and chapters that you wrote, belong to you. It is illegal for anyone to reproduce or use any of that text, in part or in whole, for profit without your permission. However, you must be able to prove that your exact words have been stolen before you can get an award for copyright infringement. So, you know that guy with his hit TV series? Well, unless he’s reading from your manual word-for-word, or attempting to sell your manual as a supplemental text that he’s written, then he’s probably doing nothing illegal. He’s just using the idea of breeding guppies.

You do “own” the copyright to your text, all its words and clever phrases. And you don’t even have to file with the Library of Congress in order to have the copyright on your text. The copyright is conferred upon you the minute you write your New York Times Bestseller. All you have to do is be able to prove, beyond any doubt, the date that you wrote the material. For your protection, then, it is wise to print and date your material, and establish with a third party through a written communication that you have just finished your text. At that time, you can legally affix the copyright symbol (the letter c inside a circle) to your work.

Now here’s where a formal copyright comes in. By filing with the Library of Congress (and paying them their required application fee), you can establish definitively a date of co