Here’s another question from my recent Virtual Book Tour:

“I have the draft of my book almost complete. It is being reviewed by associates. How to I take care of copyright / intellectual property issues?”

Here’s my answer:

The moment you wrote your book, you owned the rights to your book under US law. If you used a word processor, your computer put a date stamp on your document. This is one good way to prove you are the rightful owner. Another recommendation is to mail a copy of your manuscript to yourself and do not open the envelope when it comes back to you.

It is also a good idea to register your book at www.copyright.gov. But do not do this until you have a final book because if you register and then make significant changes to your book, you will need to register it again. Registering your copyright gives you added protection in the event you decide to take legal action against someone.

You can find more information at www.authorsonthenet.com in our publishing section. Click on the Registrations category.