Have you ever wondered how to get your book, song, or artwork published without making your creative work vulnerable to theft? The answer is the pauper’s copyright. The pauper’s copyright is a law that says as soon as you commit a creative work to paper, or record anything at all that is reproducible; you own the legal copyright, even if you fail to register your work.
Owning the copyright doesn’t prevent people from stealing your work, of course. But if they do, you can sue them. It’s reasonable to think that if you didn’t have the money or the time to register your copyright, that you may not have the money or the time to sue those who would steal your work. That’s where the pauper’s copyright comes in.
As soon as you commit your work to a reproducible form, you can send it to yourself via certified mail. But don’t open it once it arrives! If you ever do need to prove in a court of law that the creative work was yours, this piece of certified mail with the date on it will prove at least that you had the work before the person who stole it. A legal battle is still going to cost some money, but at least you have a good chance of winning.
So, if you’ve ever wondered how to get published or submit your songs to an agent and still protect your rights, now you know. Luckily, most reputable agents aren’t going to put their career on the line by pulling a stunt like rejecting your work and putting their own name on it. We’d like to think that fellow artists have respect for another’s work. But people have been known to plagiarize. With the Pauper’s Copyright, you have extra peace of mind.
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