I recently helped my friend design a video game for his project. I came up with the ideas, images, storyline, names, stages, and functionality of the entire game. However, I just found out that he will not be giving me any credit for it even though he did not come up with any part of it. He is so happy with the idea that he is also planning to create a website for it. I am very upset and want to copyright my idea. What should I do?

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Copyright, in the USA, automatically attaches to any "creative work" as soon as it is "committed to a durable medium". "Ideas", though, are not copyrightable. So, if you had the 'idea' for an image... "Hey, let's use a dragon wrapped around a globe as the logo", that cannot be copyrighted. If you actually 'drew' the logo, though, you own the copyright to it. Richard

Copyright is automatic the moment that you finish a creative work. However, if you don't want any possible legal proceedings against him to be an unholy nightmare, you should send copies of your work (every picture you want copyrighted, and every document you wrote) off to the U.S. Copyright Office, which will get you registration of the works. The website is: http://www.copyright.gov (You'll need to look up your country's copyright office if you're not in the U.S.)

You can copyright images and text. You can't copyright ideas. Ideas can be patented. Ideas behind software (algorithms) usually can't, although there are some software patents. Go to a library or bookstore as soon as you can, and read about registering copyright for your images and trademarks of names and phrases. (In fact, you could start with the trademarks.) Then you can read more about protecting your rights to other elements of the game. Some games (Monopoly, Scrabble) are protected - find out how. When you know enough, but still have some questions with no simple answers you can find in books, start talking to people knowledgeable in intellectual property law. Find a nearby law school with intellectual property law clinic. Students there, supervised by a law professor, might represent you, if your case is strong enough and interesting enough for credit. The professor might give you some information or advice, or at least point you in the right direction. But don't bother them with small things you can look up yourself.