Addendum: Sending Your Manuscript to Yourself

Jan kindly wrote to me after yesterday's post to let me know that sending your manuscript to yourself through snail mail is NOT an effective way to prove your copyright in a court of law. If you wish to create a legal record of ownership, you can electronically register your work (in the USA) at http://www.copyright.gov. The cost is $35. According to a commenter (Gary Townshende in http://www.thecreativepenn.com/2012/09/07/intellectual-property/) you can register multiple works under one submission for a single fee.

Some countries may accept a postmark as a legal copyright registration, but please investigate this topic if you are considering doing this.

MANY THANKS to Jan for letting me know about this! Jan also gave links to several articles on this topic that you might find interesting:

http://www.thecreativepenn.com/2012/09/07/intellectual-property/

http://www.writersrelief.com/blog/2008/06/copyright-urban-legend-mailing-your-writing-to-yourself/

http://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-general.html#poorman