artwork and copyright

Jill how do you go about copyrighting your work? Do yu have to pay or do you just do the little c i a circle symbol after something you have written or does your publisher handle it all as I have friends that write too. Huggles. Ellie :D

Actually when I write a poem I quickly put it on a website....called poetry.com they print it out and at the bottom of it is the copyright....and it's free so I run off a copy and I have it in my records. Otherwise once you sell an article to a magazine they buy it and after that it's theirs...my books are copyrighted by the publisher...you can also apply here to the library of congress who will send you the forms you need for your copyright.

thanx jill, that may also prove interesting as she has a gift for writing too! could be back to hassle you for more info about that! :)

o thanx suke! now that's info from the lady who knows! what a very good idea and it clearly works hun! copyrights have their place but can be prohibitive and unnecessary in some cases unless i guess we're talking a major major piece! will pass that on too, much appreciated and hoping that your success clearly continues! x :)

yes all very good advice and i'm grateful to everyone for this as it could turn out to be a right mess if it did go wrong for her! can't thank everyone enough for responding to this one and if we go with the advice and tag on a heap of common sense she shouldn't go far wrong! xx :)

thanx bloggeroo! that's a big help m8! that all makes sound sense. it's a world i know little about frankly and as a pure cynic in many respects (!) i tend to try to do my homework in any major matters like this to avoid pitfalls in the future. will pass on what u say and thanx again :)

thanx hun! yeah it is a crying shame that we have to think this way.. maybe a sign of the times i dunno! yeah that seems a very good idea hun, will visit a few places and do some trawling on the web se if we can come up with any answers. if we do the nwill def post here as a reference x

i do know that it is good to actually record all paintings and photo them.. i was once told you build your own catalogue, oh my its coming back.. right., say you have a small collection 20 paintings, this you record by taking photos and actually giving the painting a reference number, i thought of it like a birth certificate.... that way as am sure has been mentioned by mutual friend... you keep the original, and sell prints of it... limiting the first edition to 25/50... so lets say first picture is of mouse.. orig/mouse copy/mous number 1/25 and of course date artist name where sold and who too.. keeping copy of receipt etc etc... this way you can actually track your work and its movements and can be kept in diary as well on line.... Now another thing i peronally will do which i dont mind sharing is give a little brief on artist age origins that kind thing. and also a little brief on how picture came to be., this way combined with birth certificate number and date you are trcking in a paper trail for future sales on prints., rather than letting go of origional and therefore adding copyright symbol means you hav definitave proof that the origional work was yours if should get mass produced.., because you have created the trail for yourself.. it is not full proof but is proof of ownership... conception, birth, and leaving home... thats why called it birth certificate hope that helps a little better best wishes x

that's gr8 artizan, thanx for sharing that hun, good advice as always. i guess simple fact that u have added the copyright symbol shows u must have been person who painted it, just wasnt sure if that had any legal standing as such xx

hope you will best father forever