Copyright question not related to AMVs.

Chaos Angel · Post by **Chaos Angel** » Wed Mar 19, 2003 1:27 am

Hey all. I had a general question about copyrights, and I wanted to see if anyone here could help me out a bit.

I am planning to start a web-comic, and I basically want to know one thing. Do I have to apply to the patent office in order for my comic to be copyrighted to me, or is it automatically copyrighted to me?

Sorry for the stupidity, but I want to be sure I do this right and not simply assume one way or the other. Thanks for the help.

EarthCurrent · Post by **EarthCurrent** » Wed Mar 19, 2003 1:33 am

Copyright is automatically applied to original creations.

kthulhu · Post by **kthulhu** » Wed Mar 19, 2003 1:34 am

I think you need to register your copyright with the government for it to be recognized and protected.

If you do paper drawing and then scan it in, the paper originals MAY be enough to prove your ownership in a court of law (signing and dating is a good idea), but don't bank on it.

If you do digital art, it's even less likely.

So I say, if you're worried about people taking your stuff without giving you credit or compensation, then be safe and register it with the patent office.

A copyright does not cover provable prior art, but you probably knew that.

EarthCurrent · Post by **EarthCurrent** » Wed Mar 19, 2003 1:35 am

kthulhu wrote:I think you need to register your copyright with the government for it to be recognized and protected.

Registering your copyright is merely giving yourself additional legal protection for your copyright as it is placed in official record. It is not required however.

FirestormXIII · Post by **FirestormXIII** » Wed Mar 19, 2003 1:36 am

I used to know a lot about this type of thing (drew a lot and wanted to start my own comic) but all that knowledge has kind of started to fade with time

If you start your web comic I believe it'll automatically be your intellectual property, but that's you'd actually have to submit a copyright to have the name (of the comic, etc) and characters themselves tied to you. It couldn't hurt to do it, either way.

FirestormXIII · Post by **FirestormXIII** » Wed Mar 19, 2003 1:45 am

FirestormXIII wrote:...but that you'd actually have to submit a copyright to have the name (of the comic, etc) and characters themselves tied to you. It couldn't hurt to do it, either way.

God what is with all my typos tonight...

kthulhu · Post by **kthulhu** » Wed Mar 19, 2003 1:47 am

earthcurrent wrote:
kthulhu wrote:I think you need to register your copyright with the government for it to be recognized and protected.
Registering your copyright is merely giving yourself additional legal protection for your copyright as it is placed in official record. It is not required however.

Of course. I should've mentioned the extra legal protection.

Chaos Angel · Post by **Chaos Angel** » Wed Mar 19, 2003 2:02 am

kthulhu wrote:So I say, if you're worried about people taking your stuff without giving you credit or compensation, then be safe and register it with the patent office.

O_O

That honestly did not occur to me... more along the lines of, I was going to write in a little copyright notice along the side, because I figured that with original creations it was automatic, and I just wanted to ensure that I was correct in my assumption.

Thanks for the info, everyone.

gadoo · Post by **gadoo** » Wed Mar 19, 2003 2:17 am

no problem

Cain T. Longshot · Post by **Cain T. Longshot** » Wed Mar 19, 2003 11:58 am

Sweet i dea on the webcomic. ^^
If you want to talk to someone who's already done it, contact the creator of www.nuklearpower.com he makes my fav webcomic (Non-yaoi that is^^; )