copyright question?

Check this thread, it should help answer your questions:

http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/...21&postcount=9

Dag nabbit ! Sorry, I'll see if I can fix that.

Here we go - enter the Novel's forum, and click the FAQ sticky up top there, then scroll down to the Legal Issues part. There's a whole section on copyrights there

Well I can tell you for sure, don't bother. Jamesaritchie explains it better than I ever could, but it's completely unneccesary, and can mark you as amatuer to some agents. Why worry about it getting lost in the mail? No one's gonna be able to do anything with it, and lost usually means destroyed. The copyright is yours the instant you started writing the first sentence.

I'd worry more about my bills being lost in the mail than any manuscript !

And I'm not trying to be glib, believe me, I just don't explain it as well as the others here can. I just want to assure you that it's not something you need to bother with.

Unless you're writing a screen play, I think they have other rules that I don't have clue 1 about

You own the copyright as soon as you write the manuscript. No action needed.

If you're talking about registering the copyright for a book manuscript (rather than a screenplay), generally that's done by the publisher, and doing it yourself can cause hassles down the road. If you're self-publishing or you have a contract with a publisher who requires you to register the copyright yourself, then you may register the copyright yourself. Otherwise, don't do it.

No matter what you do, if you're submitting a book manuscript, do NOT put the copyright notice on your submissions, since it will scream "clueless" to anyone receiving it.

Losing a manuscript in the mail does not affect your copyright.

Is there anything that's still unclear?

JD, noting that this is not a legal opinion, because a lawyer would have to tell you to register the copyright to avoid the least little bit of risk, but doing so is not standard practice in the industry

BTW Welcome to the Cooler! If you mosey down near the bottom, you will find our ask an agent section - great for getting questions answered. Glad to hae you here. Persi

Hi c2ckim, welcome to AW. They're right ya know. You don't need to register your copyright. Just make sure you keep a copy of the ms. when you send it through the mail in case it gets lost.

Have a good time here and join in the fun!