Every now and again, someone drops by our site (and now our blog) looking to protect their work with a 'copywrite'. What these fine folks are really looking for is a 'copyright'. We certainly understand the confusion, which I'll explain in a moment.
First, if you are visiting to 'copyright' your work, the best thing to do is type 'copyright' into the google search engine below. Google will list a number of different companies that provide copyright and trademark information, resources, and services. The costs vary, but some companies may make the process a little simpler than contacting the U.S. Register of Copyright in Washington D.C. While I'm certainly no attorney, I have heard of another way to protect your work (and have used it in the past for non-commercial work): mail a copy of the manuscript, story, etc. to yourself and then file the sealed envelope away.
As far as our name, 'Copywrite, Ink.' is a play on the professional designation 'copywriter,' which is used to define people who write for advertising agencies (eg. ad copy as in advertising body copy). When I founded the company in 1991 as a freelance writer, I wanted to create a brand that was immediately recognizable: copywrite (as in copywriter) and ink (for obvious reasons). Our trademark was created a couple years later. It's an ink spot with the 'copyright' symbol inside. Today, it's a registered trademark (a copyright symbol set inside the ink spot). Of course, we make no legal claims on the copyright symbol as tempting as that might sound. Grin.
First, if you are visiting to 'copyright' your work, the best thing to do is type 'copyright' into the google search engine below. Google will list a number of different companies that provide copyright and trademark information, resources, and services. The costs vary, but some companies may make the process a little simpler than contacting the U.S. Register of Copyright in Washington D.C. While I'm certainly no attorney, I have heard of another way to protect your work (and have used it in the past for non-commercial work): mail a copy of the manuscript, story, etc. to yourself and then file the sealed envelope away.
As far as our name, 'Copywrite, Ink.' is a play on the professional designation 'copywriter,' which is used to define people who write for advertising agencies (eg. ad copy as in advertising body copy). When I founded the company in 1991 as a freelance writer, I wanted to create a brand that was immediately recognizable: copywrite (as in copywriter) and ink (for obvious reasons). Our trademark was created a couple years later. It's an ink spot with the 'copyright' symbol inside. Today, it's a registered trademark (a copyright symbol set inside the ink spot). Of course, we make no legal claims on the copyright symbol as tempting as that might sound. Grin.
