Originally Posted by Kristi.G

Actually, copyright is free! It s even implied so doesn't require registration (unlike trademarks and patents, which are not implied and very expensive to register). A writer or artist can, of they choose, register their works for a fairly nominal fee, but its not necessary to do so. If a case of copyright infringement were to end up in court, and there was a question of ownership, this official registration could be used to speed up the process of determining ownership, bit other than that, not at all necessary to file formal copyright paperwork.