Legally, Copyright protection subsists from the time the work is created in fixed form. Wikipedia defines the Poor Man's Copyright as “Poor Man's Copyright is the method by which an author sends his own work to himself through the mail without opening the envelope in the hope that it will grant him legal protection by establishing a date at which the work was created.”

Unfortunately, despite what you may have heard the poor man’s copyright is a myth. This does not provide legal protection due to how easily it can be faked and will not carry any weight in a court of law. The United States Copyright Office addresses the "poor man's copyright."

Though you do not need to register with a Copyright Office to establish ownership of your work, you will need to register your creative works with the office if you wish at anytime to bring a lawsuit for infringement of your work.

Additional information can be found at Canadian Intellectual Property Office and United States Copyright Office .

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