• Reproducible work belongs to the creator regardless of official copyright registration.copyright image by YvesBonnet from Fotolia.com
  
  

Everything is Copyrighted

• Copyright law dictates that every reproducible production or work has copyright protection. This means that a person's ideas, plans, products, solutions and other copyrightable works have immediate copyright.
  
  

Legal Copyrighting is Best Protection

• Filing for legal copyright protection with the US Copyright Office is the best way to safeguard a creative work. Adding a copyright notice to your work makes it clear that you consider your work off limits for unauthorized reproduction. If you face suit for copyright infringement, the offended party would have a better case with a registered copyright.
  
  

Bottom Line

• While it might be possible to get away with stealing or using someone else's creative work if they have not registered for copyright, it is unethical to do so and is not worth the risk of legal issues, financial burden and damage to your image if you are caught and sued.