‘How To’ Copyright a Work

Since several people seem to reach this blog looking for instructions on ‘How to copyright‘ various works:

1. Copyright does not subsist in ideas, it subsists only in the expression of an idea in the form of a literary work, music, art, etc..

2. The moment a work is created, copyright subsists in it. In most cases, the author / creator of the work owns the copyright.

3. This copyright which has already come into creation can be registered. Registration is not essential. It results in the the names or titles of works and the names and addresses of authors, publishers and owners of copyright and such other particulars as are prescribed by the law being entered in the Register of Copyrights. Entries in this Register are presumed to be true by courts although the presumption is rebuttable. Such entries do not create copyrights, they merely register copyrights (which have already automatically come into existence on the creation of a work). [1]

4. Since copyright automatically comes into existence, the question is not HOW TO copyright a work but HOW NOT TO copyright it. [2]

Links:
[1] Copyright in India: copyright.gov.in/
[2] Creative Commons: creativecommons.org/