How do i copywrite a comic?

[Pudding Chan ^0^]

i am making a comic book and i was going to show it to some editors and comic artists. i dont want the ideas and stuff to be stolen so i need it copywritten. i understand you would need a copywriter, but where could i find one and how much will it cost me?

[Liik]

Where are you trying to copyright?

US Copyright Office

Provided you're doing this in the states, here is all the information you need.

[Pudding Chan ^0^]

thankyou!! ~ heart and yes i am from the united states (^o^)

[Liik]

Unfortunately, questions like this don't make for much discussion and you may want to consider asking in the Cafe next time.
I hope it's helpful. I studied copyright law and such, so if you have anything you'd like to ask, I'd be glad to try and answer.

[Snakemuse]

[Calli]

First of all, know what you can and cannot copyright:

You CANNOT copyright an idea in and of itself. Why? Consider this: many ideas, when broken down to their basic elements, revert to a handful of basic types. Stories of love and hate, conflict (versus self, versus other, versus environment, and whatever one or two others I'm forgetting), life and death.

Don't stop reading yet. What you CAN copyright is your specific expression of an idea. Let's just take an example here -- you want to write a story about two people who fall in love from 'different sides of the tracks,' so to speak. Yeah, it's been done before -- Romeo and Juliet is probably one of the most famous. Or consider the 'quest' story. Tolkien wasn't the first, by any means, to use this frame, but he was around late enough that, if he could copyright the entire quest idea, it'd be bad news for many, many authors and artists. I'm not even going to start listing -- you can do that on your own, just go over to the fantasy section of your library and bookstore and start taking names (okay, -slight- exaggeration).

Second...it is not necessary to pay to copyright your work (though there are certain benefits to that, I think?). Once it is out of your head and onto the paper/canvas/computer screen, it's yours. It's a good idea to include a basic copyright notice, however (example: Copyright 2005 {your name here}).

Last of all...I'm going to move this over to Comic Creators for you. They could probably answer your questions even more clearly over there.

[alex9369352]

nice.... blaugh

[Pocky_Imp]

Yes, once you publish your stuff anywhere, including the web, it is copyrighted to you. The basic benefit of registering it with the copyright office is that it becomes really easy to take legal action if somebody does steal your work. You can prove it's yours. I want to register my stuff too, but I've got more than one book and at thirty bucks a pop, well, it adds up. crying

[Bastiahna]

Hey thanks guys. I've been debating this with a friend for a while. That's cleared a few things up for us.

[Rune Traverse]

Another good idea is to make a copy of whatever it is you're sending, have it noterized as yours - you need a witness and a notary, but it's much cheaper than copyright - then seal it up in an envelope and mail it certified to yourself. Don't open it, just keep it in a file drawer. That way, you have proof of what you created and when.