Copyright myths, truths and maybes

This information is based on the opinion of the Library of Congress. While I can't debunk it, I can give you  an experiential point of view. When I was in Nashville we never had a song copyrighted until  it was going to be cut. We registered our songs with a Performing rights organization, such as SESAC, ASCAP or BMI. While we have never used the poor mans copyright, I have seen 2 cases won by writers using that message along with a paper trail. We will be teaching more on this subject soon at myamp.org
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Copyright protection of your work by mailing a copy of it to yourself, then retaining the sealed, postmarked envelope as proof of the date of your authorship.

Status:   Not in the U.S., but it might be of some assistance in Britain. 

Origins:   Copyright is the exclusive right to copy a creative work or allow someone else to do so. It includes the sole right to publish, produce or reproduce, to perform in public, to communicate a work to the public by telecommunication, to translate a work, and in some cases, to rent the work.

You establish your copyright the moment your work is created and fixed in a tangible form. While you need not register your works with the United States Copyright Office to establish ownership of your intellectual property, you will have to register such items if you wish to bring a lawsuit for infringement of a U.S. work. (The fees for such service are laid out on this page.)

As to why to register your works if they are already under copyright from the moment of creation, the United States Copyright Office says:

Registration is recommended for a number of reasons. Many choose to register their works because they wish to have the facts of their copyright on the public record and have a certificate of registration. Registered works may be eligible for statutory damages and attorney's fees in successful litigation. Finally, if registration occurs within 5 years of publication, it is considered prima facie evidence in a court of law.

Mailing one's works to oneself and keeping the unopened, postmarked envelope as proof of right of ownership to them (a practice known as the "poor man's copyright") has no substantive legal effect in the U.S. We've yet to locate a case of its use where an author's copyright was established and successfully defended in a court of law by this method. At best, such mailings might serve to establish how long the author has been asserting ownership of the work, but since the postmarked-and-sealed envelope "proof" could be so easily circumvented, it is doubtful courts of law would regard such evidence as reliable.

The United States Copyright Office addresses the "poor man's copyright" thusly:

I’ve heard about a "poor man’s copyright." What is it?


The practice of sending a copy of your own work to yourself is sometimes called a "poor man’s copyright." There is no provision in the copyright law regarding any such type of protection, and it is not a substitute for registration.

However, the U.K. Patent Office has this to say on the subject in its "Claiming and Enforcing Copyright" FAQ:

How can I prove originality in my work?

Ultimately this is a matter for the courts to decide. However, it may help copyright owners to deposit a copy of their work with a bank or solicitor or send a copy of their work to themselves by special delivery (which gives a clear date stamp on the envelope), leaving the envelope unopened on its return; this could establish that the work existed at this time. (Further details of special delivery should be available at Post Offices).

Careful readers will have noted the "may help" and "could establish" in the above entry.

Brad Templeton's page about copyright myths addresses eleven other misapprehensions about copyrights. (Yes, his page is titled "10 Big Myths About Copyright Explained" but there are eleven items listed on it.) Also check out his "Brief Intro" to copyright to further expand your knowledge of the topic. (Trust me; it's painless.)