How do you get something copyrighted?

How do you get something copyrighted?

• I have an idea and i want to know how to copyright it

• Answer:

  You don't copyright ideas, you copyright text, usually creative text (such as a book, an essay, etc). The way to copyright text is to attach a copyright symbol next to original text that you have written. Make sure you add in the year - the first copyright is the one that will win in court. I would publish online too in order to nail that date down. If your idea is a symbol or some other icon to represent a firm or product, then you trademark it. That requires registration with your country's trademark office. If your idea is a product, then you'll want to either keep it a Trade Secret or patent the idea. A Trade Secret is a process that is not easily reverse engineered and that you put reasonable methods in place to protect said secret. Usually, these are very technical in nature, though a recipe is a somewhat non-technical example of a trade secret. A patent is a limited protection for a period of time. The length of time depends on the product. For instance, pharmaceuticals can only be patented for four years, which is why the prices on non-generics is so high; they have to pay for tens of millions in research in only four years. Generally, a patent is better for a product that someone can easily copy.