Items not protected by copyrights include concepts or ideas, titles, names, and brands. For example, our publishing company once considered publishing a book entitled Who Am I? First we did a little research to see if anyone else had previously used this title. We found not one, but nine books bearing this title. They were all distinct works by different authors. While not protected by copyrights, names and brands are subject to other protection, particularly trademark protection.

In the United States, copyright protection automatically extends to any appropriate material. This is the case whether you file for a copyright notice or not.

However, if it is at all practical, you should spend the small fee (currently $20 in the United States) to formally register your copyright if the material is of significant value to you. This will increase both the legal protection of your work and the value of any rewards you might recover in an infringement of copyright lawsuit.

You should put a copyright notice on all copyrighted materials. This will decrease the likelihood of infringement. The copyright notice should be in a highly visible place on the property and should include the word copyright or the copyright symbol, the first year the work was issued to the public and the formal name of the holder of the copyright.