Poor Man's Copyright

A lot of people end up in a hold because they never cophyrighted their material. Maybe they didn't think they had to. Maybe they didn't have the time. Or maybe they didn't they had the money.
I know for myself, at fourteen years old, I don't have time or the money to copyright my work, but I would encourage all writers who don't currently have a copyright to do a Poor Man's Copyright. A Poor Man's Copyright is very simple and only cost 37cents:

1:Put what you've written in an envelope.
2:Put a stamp on the envelope.
3:Address the envelope to yourself.
4:Put it in the mailbox.
5:When the envelope gets back to you, DO NOT open it.

The reason for not opening the envelope is so that it would be pure proof, when someone tries to use your stuff without giving you credit or asking for your permission that you it belongs to you. The way that you will be able to prove that it's exactly yours is because any envelope that goes through the postal office is postmarked which means it has the date you put it on the mailbox on it. Meaning that you if you put in the mailbox July 9, 2004 and someone tries to use your work and claim it as their own December 2, 2005, you will be able to prove by the postmarked envelope that you had it was before December 2005.
I hope this information has been helpful!
~CAG77~

hey thats awesome im in college so i really dont have time or money to try and get copywrite!! Plus I have so many darn poems floating around it would cost mucho deniro!!

Hehehe... That is so sneaky... reminds me of something I read somewhere, where some writers, instead of doing a little cover letter thing, they write:

Dear editor,
once upon a time...

And the editor gets tricked into reading the story because they start off thinking it's just a continuation of the letter. And hopefully, but the time they realise their mistake, they've noticed how good it is and are hooked!

One problem.


Editors really aren't that stupid. A good editor is so known in his profession he/she will just toss that sort of thing aside. They want to read your coverletter. If you don't have one, you will be considered unproffesional and put in the discard pile.


As for the mail thing, my one English teacher taught me that. Very amusing, and very useful.

But the second you write something, it's copyright by you, right?

Oh great CarsandGuitars77, now you've got me worried about my poem... I guess I better go borrow an envelope and stamp...

Hey I have another idea,

Do you think it would work if you took a camcorder and just got a long, clear shot of your work just like laid on a table? I mean, I know it'll probably take more time and it's more expensive and pretty much more wasteful, do you think it could work?

norris_redford wrote:One problem.


Editors really aren't that stupid. A good editor is so known in his profession he/she will just toss that sort of thing aside. They want to read your coverletter. If you don't have one, you will be considered unproffesional and put in the discard pile.


As for the mail thing, my one English teacher taught me that. Very amusing, and very useful.

I know it won't work, but I read it somewhere and though it was pretty funny, so I just said it for amusments sake.

Thanks! I've always wondered about that...now my mind is at rest!

Haha! That's a stinkin' sweet idea!

That's really smart eh!
Good thinking. I might do that with some of my work!
Thanks!

Genevieve
xxx

The Poor Man's Copyright is not legally considered proof alone, as it can be faked. Check it out.

http://www.copyrightauthority.com/poor-mans-copyright/

Many thanks for that site, Kit. I never understood the reasoning behind the poor man's copyright anyway.

Thanks for bringing that up, Kit. I always feel like a funkiller when I do.

Here is the U.S. government FAQ, which addresses "poor man's copyright," and here is the Snopes.com article on the subject. (Mmm, Snopes.)