I get lots of questions about how to get work copyrighted, how to prevent plagiarism, etc. I don’t mind, except that I’m not a lawyer and so my legal advice is not to be trusted, and my knowledge of U.S. copyright law boils down to a couple of basic facts. And I’m not 100% positive that those facts are, well, factual.
But someone has gone and made a handy-dandy flowchart that explains the basics of copyrighting. Well, not so much ‘explains’ as ‘charts.’ Take a look if you’re curious, and keep the aspirin handy.