Anything you write is automatically your copyright and will remain so until seventy years after you die. But if someone tries to steal your work that's of no help to you unless you can prove that you wrote it. Digital technology is making theft of writing texts much easier than in the past, so it's important to follow these basic procedures:
- Keep copies of all your different drafts. They show the progression of ideas as you developed the writing. The person who stole your writing would not be able to show the court any evidence of how the writing evolved.
- Mail a completed copy to yourself and if it arrives with a clearly dated postmark leave it unopened. It's not a failsafe system, but if you open it in front of the judge it can help to demonstrate that at that date you were in possession of the writing.
- Register your work with a copyright protection agency, either online or with a physical copy of the manuscript.
- Clearly write your name, contact details and copyright date on all copies of your work that you send out.
- Use security settings if you upload eBooks to the Internet to ensure that your work cannot be illegally copied.