Copywrite?!

I know I know on the Official ZOMBOT© Facebook Page this "COPYWRITE" can be seen on all the images I have posted. One would say " Hey shouldn't that read Copyright? " Indeed it should, I did that as a joke to see who would get it. Sadly no one got it or no one wanted to mention it... But there is logic to all this. As I was looking at getting my wild idea published, I thought of copyright law, and how with a little research one can find what they need. It may seem at first that copyright is like dredging through a swamp, but with time you will understand that it is very straight forward.

I have learned that when you are writing a book, you don't have to apply for copyright because if and when a publishing house decided to make you a deal they will buy the right to copy or "Copyright". And by the way YOUR manuscript is YOUR copyright. And another thing I learned is that as an artist the minute you put pencil to paper that is your copyright! And so for me when I started sketching out Zombot© I gave myself the right to copy.

So with that being said I knew that if I posted this image on Facebook, I am already protected because I can prove that I created and own the artwork. And so I added the "ZOMBOT COPYWRITE 2010 LAZARO GOMEZ SIN ISTER" to see if anyone would catch it.

Now how does that apply to self publication?! Good question I have a copyright applied to the book because I am the full owner of the book, and that guaranties me the opportunity to go after people that may mis-represent my creation.

For example if a printer decided hey Mr. Gomez wanted 30 books and we gave him 30 books and we are good. Now the other 40 we printed, lets sell those because he forgot to... say it say it. COPYRIGHT!

Hope that helps cover copyright law in lay terms. Here is a link to more info on copyrights.