Originally Posted by
Bree123
If it was a true copyright (one of my favorite designers pursues the less expensive design patents instead), then it is still in effect.
This makes no sense - I believe you have things backwards or otherwise confused. First of all, Copyrights and Patents apply to completely different things. You can copyright a work of art, or written instructions and you apply for a patent for an invention or an idea for an invention. For instance, you can copyright a painting but you can't patent it. If you come up with a new airbrush tool for making paintings, you could apply for patent for the tool, but not copyright it (although your instruction for using the tool would be copyrighted).
Also, copyright is free - it is implied for all pieces that it applies to. You can strengthen your ability to uphold the copyright in court, should you ever need to do so, by registering your copyrighted works with the appropriate agency, but it's simply a matter of submitting a sample of the work along with a modest application fee. But as I said, it is technically copyrighted whether your submit the registration or not. Submitting the registration simply makes it easier to prove in the future that it was your original creation.
Patents on the other hand usually require the assistance of a patent attorney who specializes in the type of invention you are attempting to patent, at the cost of many thousands of dollars, along with the patent application fees, which I believe are well over $1000 themselves.