When I was young, I believed that Copyright had to do with a giant C inside of a circle. If that image was on your work, it was untouchable. However, this technically is not the case today in the U.S. According to the U.S. Copyright Office, “Your work is under copyright protection the moment it is created and fixed in a tangible form that is perceptible either directly or with the aid of a machine or device.” A kindergartener’s drawing is copyrighted the moment they place the crayon on the paper. But it can’t be as simple as that can it? Well, yes and no.
You could register for protection, but it is completely voluntary. There are benefits to registration though, mostly when dealing with lawsuits for infringement. It is much easier to prove a work is yours when it goes on the public record. However, technically, anything you create “in a tangible form” is automatically under copyright protection. But what does that mean to the rest of the world.
Whatever you create is automatically off limits. For this reason, I press for everyone to obtain creative commons licenses for their works. Of course there are exceptions to every rule, but the majority of works out there should be free to be built off of, changed, manipulated, and used to express. The millions of copyrighted works created each day slowly takes away the freedom to express. Claiming a certain work as your own intellectual property blocks others from expressing their ideas in any manner remotely similar, out of fear of lawsuits and illegality.
Several creative commons licenses exist for a variety of different purposes and works. By using one of these licenses, you can allow a freer use of your creation, promoting others to change and possibly better your work, or at least redistribute it without fear. This is more an asking for change to those unaware. If you know your work is copyrighted and wanted it that way for a reason, so be it. But, if you have been creating works and you do not mind others sharing them, even possibly changing them, then please consider putting a creative commons license on your work. An automatic copyright automatically closes off many possibilities for others.