Nifty way to copyright your stuff

[ADD Boy]

I always thought it was a cool way to protect your intellectual property without shelling out the money required to copyright it. I read this in Guitar World a couple years ago and thought I'd share it since I was about to do this for the stuff I've been writing lately.

All you do to copyright your stuff is put it in an envelope and send it to yourself. Now, when you receive the letter you sent to yourself, don't open it! Just keep it sealed. The postmark on the front should indicate the date you sent it.

Now you have a copy of your works in a timestamped envelope. I'm sure there are arguments a lawyer could use against you if an intellectual property argument ever came up, e.g. that you faked the postmark or unsealed the envelope using steam, etc. But I would consider it a pretty effective way to prove that stuff is yours.

 

[kittynh]

well, or send it to someone you trust, like your attorney, or agent, or mother. Just let them know they are supposed to keep it.

 

[ADD Boy]

Yeah, sending it to your lawyer actually sounds like a beter idea.

 

[Chupacabras]

I read something like that sometime ago at the Photoforum. However, in photography, you can register a CD with thousands of low res images as one single work or collection (ie: "The photoart works of Chupacabras during May 2004"), so you will dramatically reduce per-image costs.

Perhaps there's a similar way in literature - to register a yearly collection of pieces as a single work. I mean, actually registering your copyright would be a better way to protect yourself, instead of allegations of postal seals and such.

One more thing: as I understand, to start a fight for copyright infringement, you have to have your work registered at the copyright office, but it doesn't mean you must register prior to the infringement - that is, you can register only after you decide to start a legal fight.

HTH

 

[NoZed Avenger]

But I would consider it a pretty effective way to prove that stuff is yours.

I would much rather have a number of witnesses -- signed and dated, if possible.

As Kitty suggests, sending it to an attorney who can stamp the date it is received and keep it filed is far superior.

I am an attorney, though -not- in the intellectual property field. however, I will say that I have seen this advice about mailing it to yourself before -- I don't care for it, and have not found an attorney that actually recommends it.

N/A

 

[The Central Scrutinizer]

I always thought it was a cool way to protect your intellectual property without shelling out the money required to copyright it. I read this in Guitar World a couple years ago and thought I'd share it since I was about to do this for the stuff I've been writing lately.

All you do to copyright your stuff is put it in an envelope and send it to yourself. Now, when you receive the letter you sent to yourself, don't open it! Just keep it sealed. The postmark on the front should indicate the date you sent it.

Now you have a copy of your works in a timestamped envelope. I'm sure there are arguments a lawyer could use against you if an intellectual property argument ever came up, e.g. that you faked the postmark or unsealed the envelope using steam, etc. But I would consider it a pretty effective way to prove that stuff is yours.

Sorry, doesn't work.

 

[crimresearch]

All that it proves is you sent an envelope on a certain date, there is no way to prove what was in it at the time. It is a simple trick to insert something in a 'sealed' envelope.

By the time you start paying lawyers, notaries, etc. you have spent more time and money than just visiting the Library of Congress website.

This 'poorman's copyright' story pops up on the Glitternet like clockwork.

However, you can take all your songs, stories, poems, etc. and get them quick and inexpensive registration of your copyright as a collection..."My greatest hits" or whatever.


Paul

 

[Nigel]

I registered several of my photographs (total about 10-15) with the copyright office. Cost $30.00 each group (I sent 2). So for a grand total of $60.00 my photos are provably mine. Small price to pay, considering the alternative.

 

[Ed]

My understanding is that the Hague convention confers copyright the moment intellectual property is created. The issue is to show when.

 

[Fluffy]

What happens when a copyright is not recognised in a country or is not legal requirement?

Before you go any further you need to know that there is no official register for copyright. It is an unregistered right (unlike patents, registered designs or trade marks). So, there is no official action to take, (no application to make, forms to fill in or fees to pay). Copyright comes into effect immediately, as soon as something that can be protected is created and "fixed" in some way, eg on paper, on film, via sound recording, as an electronic record on the internet, etc. It is a good idea for you to mark your copyright work with the copyright symbol © followed by your name and the date, to warn others against copying it, but it is not legally necessary in the UK.

Click here

 

[ceo_esq]

Believe it or not, the sealed-envelope procedure is actually a very common way to establish a presumption (albeit rebuttable) of originality.

The leading scholarly treatise on U.S. copyright law notes the following:

If the presumption of originality is challenged by conflicting evidence, the plaintiff may rely upon the device of proving deposit of a copy of his work with a nongovernmental depository, such as is provided by the Writers Guild of America, or by mailing a copy of the work to himself and then opening the sealed envelope in open court. Such procedure, although not conclusive, does tend to prove originality, and may at least conclusively establish that the plaintiff did not copy from the defendant when the envelope was sealed on a date prior to the established date of defendant's creation. In addition to other relevant evidence, expert testimony is admissible on the issue of plaintiff's originality.


Source: 4-13 Nimmer on Copyright § 13.01 (emphasis added) (footnotes omitted)

The treatise adds that the self-addressed sealed envelope procedure, unlike deposit with the Writers' Guild, "carries the risk that the trier of fact may conclude that the envelope was opened subsequent to mailing but prior to trial, the contents altered, and then resealed." However, based on a rapid review of a case in which this procedure was rejected by a court, I'd say that this risk is low unless the envelope actually has been opened and resealed.

Another cheap way to establish originality would be bringing a new work before a notary and formally attesting to its creation. However, I'm aware of one copyright case in which even a notarized certificate was rejected as evidence by a judge, where the notary hadn't been brought before the court to testify!

I read something like that sometime ago at the Photoforum. However, in photography, you can register a CD with thousands of low res images as one single work or collection (ie: "The photoart works of Chupacabras during May 2004"), so you will dramatically reduce per-image costs.

Perhaps there's a similar way in literature - to register a yearly collection of pieces as a single work. I mean, actually registering your copyright would be a better way to protect yourself, instead of allegations of postal seals and such.

Bear in mind that even producing a copyright registration certificate does no more than establish a presumption of originality in favor of the registrant (which presumption can also be established in other ways). This presumption could then be successfully challenged through adducing conflicting evidence - and conceivably such evidence could even include someone else producing a sealed envelope with a prior postmark.

One more thing: as I understand, to start a fight for copyright infringement, you have to have your work registered at the copyright office, but it doesn't mean you must register prior to the infringement - that is, you can register only after you decide to start a legal fight.

With the exception of non-U.S. works benefiting from international treaty protection in the United States, this is true. Nevertheless, registration prior to the date of infringement confers several advantages, including the ability to claim additional damages.

Sorry, doesn't work.

As I've indicated, it certainly can work, but it's not foolproof. Also as I suggested, the risk that it won't work is low if the claim is genuine, and rather higher if there's actually been some trickery with the envelope.

All that it proves is you sent an envelope on a certain date, there is no way to prove what was in it at the time. It is a simple trick to insert something in a 'sealed' envelope.

True, but the burden would be up to the other side to produce convincing evidence (presumably through costly expert testimony) that the envelope had been tampered with. The only cases I'm aware of where the sealed-envelope procedure failed were ones where there actually did seem to be some irregularity with the envelope or its contents and the expert witnesses easily picked up on it.

My understanding is that the Hague convention confers copyright the moment intellectual property is created. The issue is to show when.

You're thinking of the Berne Convention. But yes, that's the the general principle.

 

[kittynh]

I refer to my attorney as my "pit bull"

He goes after any copywrite infringement - because what do you do when some lovely nonprofit thinks nothing of using your work without your permission. For one thing they expect you to say it's ok when you find out. Guess what, it's usually NOT. My pit bull gets to be the bad guy, and I don't have to deal with the headache.

Since I've way cut back on my work, it doesn't cost me too much a year to keep my pit bull looking out for me.

 

[crimresearch]

"True, but the burden would be up to the other side to produce convincing evidence (presumably through costly expert testimony) that the envelope had been tampered with."

Actually, as I said, it is a simple trick to alter the contents of a standard envelope which has been sealed and sent through the mail. No expert witnesses would be needed to establish tampering, because no tampering takes place. There is no need to open and reseal anything.

Any magician would know it, and since it is standard con artist pigeon drop stuff, many cops know it, and anyone who knew the trick could certainly demonstrate to a judge the fact that an ordinary envelope is not always secure...and sending an unsecured envelope through the mail doesn't really establish anything but the presence of the envelope, as the earlier cite mentions.

Now if someone wanted to go to the trouble of making an envelope truly secure, and proving its secureness to the court, they could...but all that to avoid a $30 dollar registration?

Actually, maybe we should move this up to the $1M Challenge, since I'm sure Randi knows how to debunk this one.

Paul

 

[Ed]

You're thinking of the Berne Convention. But yes, that's the the general principle.

Berne Hague, they are all Krauts anyway.

 

[Bottle or the Gun]

Here's the link to the US Copyright Office. The good thing is if you write a book you don't have to send the whole thing in. My worry is that like sometimes happens in patent applications, there are people who lurk around to rip off ideas.

If you hack out a book and expect say $5000 for the first sale, then break down and spend $30 to copyright it. The time-stamped solution is used more for provenance, like with the lady that invented the Topsy Tail. She dated and stamped a letter with her creation process detailed in it, and that helped her win a case against the corporation that tried to stomp on her invention by mass-producing it, hoping she would give up the lawsuit when her money ran out.

I copyrighted a cute cartoon character and his adventures years ago, and keep it alive by using it occasionally in my e-mails, web-sites, etc.

In a recently resolved Gaiman vs McFarlane copyright lawsuit (Gaiman Wins ) I have read that the ownership of a comic character and it's future use and profits were basically hijacked by the person who did not own it, because the creator did not contest the copyright filing by another person (it is almost impossible to monitor every filing to see if your work is too similar to someone elses).

I'd advise anyone to stop using half-way measures. So use the system, keep notes.

It may not work for international copyright violations, it depends on the country. The 1988 Korean Olympic mascot Hodori was a blatant rip of Tony the Tiger.

 

[The Central Scrutinizer]

My understanding is that the Hague convention confers copyright the moment intellectual property is created. The issue is to show when.

Yeah, I learned that in a 1 day copyright, patent & trademark seminar I took. Something is copyrighted as soon as you declare it to be. But, like you said, the trick is (if you don't register it) to prove it.