: How do I establish international copyright to my works? What should I do to establish rights on my work? Does it depend on the country where it was created?

@Candy945

Regardless of what country your in one of the first things you can do is establish evidence that shows when the work was created (or when you claim you created the work).

You can do this using the free online copyright protection service Myows.

This can't prove that you created the work but it can establish evidence that could be used if you ever needed to defend your copyright.


As soon as you upload an Original work on Myows, a copy of that work
is time- and date-stamped and saved on our secure servers.

Uploading your work on Myows provides you with valuable evidence as
well as an effective deterence measure designed to prevent theft.

Vote Up Vote Down

@Megan533

Yes - it completely depends on which country you are in. If you want to make it really fun, post it on the internet and then try to chase after copyright infringement in multiple countries.

Copyright laws of the United States: www.copyright.gov/title17/
Copyright laws in Canada: www.media-awareness.ca/english/resources/legislation/canadian_law/federal/copyright_act/cdn_copyright_ov.cfm
Copyright laws in Great Britian: www.copyrightservice.co.uk/copyright/p01_uk_copyright_law
Copyright laws of Burkino Faso: afro-ip.blogspot.com/2011/07/to-z-of-african-official-ip-websites-no_18.html
What you have to do to register your image (file a form, put a copyright notice on it, rent a billboard, etc.) as well as your rights and options will vary from country to country. Best bet is to google the copyright laws of your particular country.

Vote Up Vote Down