Why does the myth of “poor mans copyright” persist?
Neither the “poor man’s” copyright NOR registration is required for an author of a published work to retain copyright protection. From the moment it is in a fixed form, REGISTERED or NOT, COPYRIGHT NOTICE AFFIXED or NOT, the originator OWNS the copyright. Although a copyright must be registered if the owner brings suit, the registration can be filed at any time. In the extraordinarily unlikely event that the originator elects to bring an infringement suit, he or she can register the work at that time (e.g., immediately prior to bringing suit). In other words, the “poor man’s” copyright procedure is unnecessary. A work is protected from the moment it is in a fixed form. Immediate registration is also unnecessary, as it is not the act of registration which imbues the originator with copyright, rather, it is the act of creating (and putting in fixed form) the work which results in automatic protection. This bears repeating: an originator can register a copyright AT ANY TIME. It is *not* a
