How do you get a Copyright?
Under the Berne Convention, no formalities are required as preconditions to get copyright protection.In other words, the original authorship work is protected by the national laws since the moment of the creation (principle of ‘automatic’ protection). As a result, neither publication, registration, nor other action is required to obtain copyright protection.
However, some countries recommend the use of a copyright notice, which requires that authors and publishers give notice of the copyrighted status of the work writing the copyright symbol ©, name and year on the work. Whereas other few countries require the registration of domestic works in order to sue for copyright infringement. For example, the U.S. requires both copyright notice and registration.
By contrast, copyright owners have started to use other methods in order to guarantee better protection for their works. The cheapest method is known as 'the poor's man' copyright, through which the author sends a copy of its work to him/herself and leaves the envelope closed with the postal stamp. Another one is the deposit of copies of the original work with a bank or a lawyer. In addition, a copyright owner can also decide to register its work with an independent Copyright Registration provider which not only retains a genuine copy of its work but also proves the origination date and the fact that the work is original.
