Where and How to file a copyright for my own character ?

Hi. I looked up a lot of website in google. There are so many websites with diferrent prices. Can somebody help me to find a trusted website to file copyright for my own game character please ? Thank you so much.

Hi. I looked up a lot of website in google. There are so many websites with diferrent prices. Can somebody help me to find a trusted website to file copyright for my own game character please ? Thank you so much.

You can file directly with the US Library of Congress.

I would suggest including all work associated with the game in one filing as there is a filing fee.

https://www.copyright.gov/registration/

You do not have to file to have copyright of your work and as soon as your work is put in tangible form you own the copyright to that work and you can include a copyright notice on that work however without a registered copyright you would not have the additional legal protections and collecting any legal costs would not be covered if you sued someone for infringement.

Hi. I looked up a lot of website in google. There are so many websites with diferrent prices. Can somebody help me to find a trusted website to file copyright for my own game character please ? Thank you so much.

Sounds like a complete waste of time and money to be honest.

People can get away with just a few tweaks.

If you look throughout history you will find many examples:

Slade Wilson(Deathstroke) vs Wade Wilson (Deadpool)

Clayface vs Sandman

Blackcat vs Catwoman

Plasticman vs Mr Fantastic

Spiderman vs Black Spider

Thanos vs Darkseid

Wasp vs Bumblebee

Antman vs Atom

Simba vs Hamlet

Elsa vs Sub-Zero

If you are in the United States, as lamar has already said, you automatically own copyright as the author of your work from the instant you create the work. Also as lamar said, registering your copyright with the US Library of Congress costs $35. The advantage of registering your the copyright is that it makes it much easier to defend in the case of intellectual property disputes.

If you are outside of the United States, you are subject to the laws of whatever country you work in.

As MPPlantOfficial suggested, preventing theft of intellectual property is up to you, and is not always as easy as sending a "cease and desist" letter. If you are concerned, I recommend consulting an attorney who specializes in intellectual property and copyrights.

These are the basics from the USPTO website. Note that copyrights fall under the Library of Congress, not the USPTO.

https://www.uspto.gov/learning-and-resources/ip-policy/copyright/copyright-basics#heading-2

Here are the instructions for registering with the US Copyright Office:

https://www.copyright.gov/fls/sl35.pdf

As mentioned here already, your artwork is protected by copyright the moment it's created. I think the main reason people register their art is to prove WHEN they created it if a dispute goes to court. You can save yourself a lot of money by mailing your designs to yourself and leave it unopened, and let a judge open it.

As mentioned here already, your artwork is protected by copyright the moment it's created. I think the main reason people register their art is to prove WHEN they created it if a dispute goes to court. You can save yourself a lot of money by mailing your designs to yourself and leave it unopened, and let a judge open it.

Sorry but that old mail to yourself does nothing to prove copyright.

You either need to register your copyright with the US library of congress or publish your work somewhere with the copyright notice and your name and year created attached which is evidence it is your work.

You can get a notary public to stamp documents that gives it some credibility with courts but for legal purposes the work needs to be registered or publicly published to have much weight.

I have dozens of registered copyrights on books, ebooks, plans, music and other media.

Just want to help people save some money:

The filing fee is $35 however that is for an entire file of associated work.

So you can put all your created artwork, sprites, music, sound effects, screen shots, layout and events sheets and anything associated with a game and file it all for that $35 as a compilation work.

Just be sure it is all your own work and that is how I file my copyrights for media all the time.

I would be happy to explain DMCA take down notices to get your copyrighted work taken down and the legal process of copyright litigation if anyone is interested?

I have done DMCA takedowns several times over the years.

Sorry but that old mail to yourself does nothing to prove copyright.

Remember, you are not proving copyright, because that is granted the moment the art is created. There's a date on the envelope and the only thing the court cares about is when the art is created to decide who created it first. When you provide documents in court, the burden of proof shifts to the other side. If they don't have any proof, you win.

Another way to time stamp your art is to publish your work online. If someone comments on your art, now you have a witness.