Mailinglist privacy: MY NAME ALL OVER GOOGLE!

[Anthony Atkielski]

Chris writes:

> Hahaha - good stuff! Yanno, last I knew (and that was some time ago) You
> had to submit writings for review to the copyright folks here in the U.S.

It has never been that way.

Copyright exists in any work fixed in a tangible medium at the time of
its creation.  No formalities are necessary.

> Then, if they deem it so, you then had to pay a fee to have it
> copyrighted.

No, you do not.

You may be confusing copyright with patents or trademarks.

> As I said - this may or may not be the case any longer ...

It has never been the case.

> ... I didn't know that just by writing something, you were grandted all the
> nifty perks of it being copywritten.

As a matter of fact, just by writing something, you implicitly receive
all the benefits of copyright (not copywriting, which is something
entirely different).  No formalities are necessary.

> Then again - I'm not a lawyer. And to be frank, I couldn't care less either.

So it seems.  It's worthwhile to at least make an effort not to infringe
on the copyrights of others, though, as litigation can be costly.

-- 
Anthony