Does the ‘Poor Man’ Copyright work?
Following the Poor Man Copyright idea, it is important to note that simply enveloping an authorship work and mailing it to yourself does not prove your ownership for several reasons. Firstly, the copyright owner does not sign any certified forms and make any official statements. Secondly, envelopes can be open in many ways (e.g. steamed) and postmarks can be altered or damaged. Lastly, it is noteworthy that most copyright cases are not focused on authorship issues. They mainly regard matters of fair use, contract disputes, and unauthorized duplication. Therefore, it is generally simple to discover who is the original author and it is unlikely that Poor Man Copyright would be necessary to prove this aspect. Especially in the Internet era, copyright misuse or infringement happens within minutes, not days; therefore, in the event that a dispute of authorship should arise, the delay in receiving back the envelope would potentially make Poor Man Copyright harmful.
