Do Writers Need to Copyright Their Work?

What writers need to know about copyright

by Linda Gilden @LindaGilden

“Well, I’ll be glad to send my manuscript to you for editing as soon as I get it copyrighted. I don’t want anyone to steal my idea.”

Steal her idea? Anyone? Since I am the only one who will see her work if I edit it, I guess she means me.

One of the most frequent questions I get as an editor and coach is about copyright. The issue of copyright is important to writers. They want to make sure their material is protected and they have the right to do whatever they wish with the manuscripts they have created. New writers are sometimes overly concerned about someone stealing their material and not paying them for it.

Does it happen? Occasionally. But as team members in the publishing profession, we must trust each other. Because if we don’t risk submitting our ideas and manuscripts to a publisher or editor, our writing can never make a difference for our readers because they will never see it in print.

The moment you create a document, whether handwritten or typed into your computer, you own the copyright to that material. It is that simple. Some folks want to complicate the copyright issue but it all comes down to the fact that if you wrote it down, it you own it.

If you want to register your idea with the Copyright Office at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., forms can be found at www.copyright.gov/forms. There is a charge for this. Even though their material is protected because it is written, some people prefer to have their work registered with the Copyright Office. There is nothing wrong with doing that. However, there is a lot of paperwork involved and it can get quite expensive if you register every piece of your writing.

When I first started writing, I had a little bit of the new writer fear of someone taking my work. I put my work in an envelope and mailed it to myself. As long as it remained unopened it was proof of the creation date and copyright ownership. However, many years later I found one of those envelopes and thought to myself—What in the world could this be? Curious, I opened it, thus nullifying any proof of the creation date. These days you could accomplish the same thing by emailing your manuscript to yourself when it is done. The email would always have the date on it and be filed in your mailbox.

So remember—the copyright of your written material is yours immediately after creation.

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Linda Gilden is a wife, mother, and grandmother. She loves to take one subject and create multiple articles from that information. Linda finds great joy (and lots of writing material) in time spend with her family. Her favorite activity is floating in a pool with a good book surrounded by splashing children.

To find out more about Linda, her writing, and her ministry, visit www.LindaGilden.com. You can also connect with her on Twitter and Facebook.