How do you copyright a poem or story?

[jenniprice]

Hi
I've started writting a story and write many poems.
I would like to start looking at getting them published or even looked at by someone, but would I need to copyright them first to protect myself?
How would I copyright something?

Also anyone know the best thing/place to go to get someone to look at my poems. I have many books so was wondering whether to just write to them?

Thanks in advance

[terambulan]

Easy....post to publisher - registered (so its signed for) keep receipt.......proof enough!

[andy-hughes]

Send anything with

copyright jenniprice 2008

at the bottom, and as a double safeguard, post a copy to yourself in a sealed envelope, which you then keep unopened.

These are both proof of copyright.

[saxy_jag]

Technically and legally, you don't need to do anything. The copyright is yours the moment you produce the work, and you don't even need to put the little (c) on your work to register this, either.

However, if you want to be a little more certain, all you have to do is be able to prove that you wrote it first. A computer file will have the original date of creation in its meta-data, so that's one avenue. If you're a member of an online writing group/forum, then submitting your work to that is also a good way of recording date of creation, as the people who run the best ones archive everything posted. Some forums let you have a journal space on which to store your work.

Another, more tangible way of doing it is to post a copy of your work to yourself in a sealed envelope, then don't open it when it's delivered. The postmark is your date evidence.