I am creating a logo for one of my clients, and the question came up "Do I need to copyright my graphics?" As I am not a lawyer or well versed in this matter I told him that I was unsure. I have pondered this question myself, so to quench my legal curiosity I figured I would post here. Any thoughts on the matter?
Everything that you're publishing is automatically copyright protected. BUT you have a better LEGAL protection when you register your copyright. A other question is the technical protection. Timo
That's what I thought. Everything is copyrighted upon publish. But no legal action could be taken without a registered copyright.
That pretty much sums it up perfectly. You only need to register an actual copyright if you think you will ever need to sue someone in court for using the image.
In the US, legal action can be taken without a registered copyright, but your chances of winning are drastically smaller (even if you do that sealed envelope mailed to yourself thing). Now, there are other things to consider. If there is a custom logo then that should be trademarked (if not already). The word client implies that you are not a direct employee of this person. The copyright for things created by employees for and during the course of their duties generally goes to the company. However, sometimes copyright on things created by 'freelancers' is held by the contracted employee unless it is stated otherwise in the contract that was signed.