There are a few different reasons you may find yourself in the interesting position of learning about the copyright symbol, how to make one and how to apply it to your business. To understand anything about copyright you must first understand exactly what it is. Here are just a few of the things you’re going to want to learn about this useful symbol.

Copyright: What Exactly Is It?

Copyright is often denoted by the © symbol following a date to signify an original body of work. This creative work can come in the form artwork that is dimensional such as painting, photography and graphic design, along with literary works. In addition to offering protection here, copyright can also extend its protective arm to cover theatrical works, architectural designs and sound recordings.

The holder of a copyright has the right to use the work as they see fit, for financial purposes or otherwise. They can also make copies of the work as well as distribute it how they see fit. They can make variations of their work and allow others to use their work as well.

Because the person that holds the ownership of the copyright can do the above with their work, the copyright also means that those who don’t own it can’t do any of the previous things with it. If a person makes copies of something that is copyrighted that is considered infringement and legal action can be pursued.

Basic Copyright

For many people it may come as a shock that they can copyright their own work simply by placing the date and © afterword. For instance if you sat down and typed up an original work of fiction in order to copyright it to yourself simply place at the end of the work your name, year and the symbol, like so: Smith, 2006 ©.

In order to get the © symbol all you have to do is place the letter between parenthesis and most word processors will pick up on what this is. If you are looking to get this symbol up on your page and need to provide it in html, don’t fret and start sweating it is much easier than you might first imagine. Simply type © and you will see this all important symbol appear on your page.

Is It Difficult To Get One

Something like this may seem very hard to get your hands on at first glance, but the truth is that they are often very easy to get your hands on. In fact to just get a copyright you won’t have to go anywhere or fill out any tedious paperwork. Simply denote your work with the date at the end along with the © symbol (just get this by placing the letter between parenthesis). It gets a little trickier when you want it registered. For this step you are best to search out one of the numerous online sites that help to facilitate the process. Good news is that it is low cost, only thirty dollars, and can last more than seventy years.