Copyright Deposit or Date Stamp

There are various services that offer to "date-stamp" or "archive" your work as a means of somehow protecting it. These methods are variations of what's commonly known as the "poor man's copyright." Sending yourself a sealed envelope with your work inside or using some service offering to electronically "date stamp" your uploaded work is not a substitute for copyright registration. There is simply no provision in the copyright laws for this type of protection.

Of the many problems with these methods - the thought that you will have "proof" of creation and copyright ownership in case someone steals your work or claims it as their own, is misguided. First, in order to take legal action against someone who has copied your original work, your copyright must be registered with the U.S. Copyright Office.

Also, these methods do not provide any record of who the authors are or who might have contributed to the work. A date stamp or sealed envelope only indicates that the work existed at a certain time, but does not answer the most important questions about authorship: Who owns the work? For example, for music: Who wrote the lyrics? Who wrote the music? Did you work with a co-author who is now claiming ownership? What about that keyboard player you hired to play on the demo?

Only by filing a copyright registration and depositing a copy of your work with the Copyright Office can you avoid or alleviate these potential problems.

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