If you devote your time to any form of creative activity, you surely want to be given the credit you deserve for the original works you produce. Whether you write novels, paint paintings or anything else, it's all the same – you put a lot of effort into what you do, and you want people to know that your work is yours and respect you for it. Furthermore, if your product turns out to have real economic value, you want that money to be yours.
Copyrighting is a way to legally protect yourself against theft, and it's usually well worth the effort.
This can be difficult without copyrights. If you write a story and put it online for the world to see, it's hard to stop other people from taking it without your permission and reprinting it without crediting you. The digital revolution has made activities like this far more common, sadly. Copyrighting, however, is a way to legally protect yourself against these instances of theft, and it's usually well worth the effort.
How a copyright helps protect you
If you've put time and effort into producing any sort of creative work, the last thing you want is to see it stolen away from you. Luckily, there are robust copyright laws on the books in Australia that can protect you against such actions. According to the National Library of Australia, a copyright can protect you against your work being copied or reused without your permission.
Typically, these protections last for 70 years after the death of the creator. In other words, just file for a copyright once, and you'll never have to worry about it again. This is an extraordinarily high level of control over your intellectual property.
All sorts of creative works can be covered
It's not just written works that are protected by intellectual property law in Australia, either. All different sorts of creative products fall under the umbrella of copyrighting. Mondaq noted that drawings, illustrations, engravings, blueprints, maps, musical scores and radio and TV broadcasts are all fair game as well. Whenever you do anything creative, the law is on your side for safeguarding it.
If you need a little help getting that squared away from a legal standpoint, that's not a problem. At Alder IP, we have a capable team of copyright lawyers in Sydney who are eager to assist you. We offer a full-service suite of legal help when it comes to intellectual property; once you begin working with us, you'll be amazed at all the ways we can lend a hand.