Title: |
Poor Man's Copyright | ||
Author: |
Jules Keren Ross | Section: |
Artistic Creativity |
Submitted: |
September 2004 | Expertise base on: |
Education |
You're going to be huge!
You've written your song. You love it. You know they're going to love it too. And you want them to. But you want to maintain ownership over it. Over coffee, a friend tells you about "Poor Man's Copyright" (PMC). "It's great!" He says. "Put your song on a CD, mail it to yourself, et voila! You can always show that you own it." This sounds great! For 52 cents you are protected. But are you? Does PMC really work? In life, they say, "you get what you pay for" and unfortunately, in the case of PMC, they're right.
The Problem with PMC
The point of copyright is to protect work against unauthorized use. The biggest problem with PMC is that it doesn't always achieve this goal. Copyright is automatic. It's TRUE! If you create original work and fix it in an acceptable tangible form, you are the proud owner of copyright for that work. This begs the question: why bother with PMC in the first place?
The easiest answer is because the issue of copyright is simple only when people aren't fighting over it. Unfortunately, fights over copyright ownership happen all the time, especially in a project where collaboration has occurred. This is why people turned to the security of PMC in the first place.
Unfortunately, PMC can be faked (for examples see http://www.copyrightauthority.com). Because it can be faked, it often isn't enough to stand up in court. By the time you get to court, several people will be fighting over the same body of work, and using a system that is easy to fake will not be very convincing to a judge.
You may be able to bolster your claim to copyright, by getting a lawyer or notary to witness the date and content of your work as proof of your ownership. But, in the end, the best form of protection will be to register your work at the copyright office. It will only cost you between $50-$65. This costs more than PMC, but it makes your work eligible for statutory damages in a successful litigation (just in case it comes up).
Better yet, make the small investment and get a lawyer to make sure your work is copyrightable and that registration is done correctly. That way, you'll be secure in the knowledge that your application has been done properly. If you apply on your own and err, the correction fee is $50-$65.
Spend a little extra and get legal advice at the same time.
