Some of you may have been told about the so-called ‘poor man’s copyright‘ - that is, using the US Post Office as a method of copyrighting your artwork, and I suppose in context, your spanking new logo design. It often pops up on design forums as designers advise each other on methods (short of hiring a lawyer) of protecting this or that artwork.

Here’s how a poor man’s copyright is supposed to work - you take your artwork, logo or written piece, place it in a sealed envelope and mail it to yourself, registered mail. The thought behind the process is that the US Post Office (as an official representative of the feds - itself questionable) has now ‘date stamped’ your artwork, proving once and for all the date that you’re claiming copyright. You can then put this unopened letter in a safe place, only to be opened as an ‘ah-ha’ moment in a court battle with the unscrupulous hack who’s now laying claim to your work. Must admit, it appears pretty sound. Trouble is, it probably won’t work, as your legal opponent will be able to prove quite readily in court that a poor man’s copyright can be faked (thus rendering it’s legal value moot). How? Breathtakingly simple actually - you can send a registered letter to yourself in an unsealed envelope, and then place whatever you want in the envelope and then seal it. Any lawyer worth their salt could argue this in court and if that’s all you got, your ownership rights are sunk. It’s highly unlikely that any judge would be willing to accept this as evidence of anything other than your ability to send a letter to your home address. Here’s what the US Copyright Office has to say on the matter in their series of copyright FAQs -

I’ve heard about a “poor man’s copyright.” What is it?

The practice of sending a copy of your own work to yourself is sometimes called a “poor man’s copyright.” There is no provision in the copyright law regarding any such type of protection, and it is not a substitute for registration.

Snopes debunks the poor man’s copyright here (while noting that this method may be of some assistance in the UK, although the page that originally made that statement - on the UK Patent Office web site - has disappeared). Considering that you can officially register a copyright with the US Government for $45 a pop, using the ‘poor man’s’ method is only going to save you a few bucks anyway. While copyright is automatic upon artwork creation, there are some farily valid reasons for shelling out forty-five bucks. Again, from the Copyright Office web site -

Many choose to register their works because they wish to have the facts of their copyright on the public record and have a certificate of registration. Registered works may be eligible for statutory damages and attorney’s fees in successful litigation. Finally, if registration occurs within 5 years of publication, it is considered prima facie evidence in a court of law.

There are other methods of proving copyright and more importantly date of claim - publication in a dated periodical (newspaper, magazine, etc) for example - and every use of your artwork acrues additional ownership and ability to prove when you created the artwork (ie: before the person who ripped it). For more on copyright, here’s a brief overview that ties things up pretty nicely.

Oh yeah - before I forget: IANAL (I am not a lawer) so any legal info presented here is worth exactly what you paid for it.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 21st, 2007 at 1:49 pm and is filed under Opinion & Ramblings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.