If you are a budding writer, you may have worried about protecting your legal interest in your creative works. Many writers find themselves losing sleep over protecting their interest in their works. Some writers debate whether they should retain the services of a copyright lawyer, or whether they should obtain the services of a lawyer who specializes in intellectual property law.

Through this article, I will provide you with an overview of what types of services a copyright or intellectual property lawyer can provide for you. I will also provide you with information about what you can do yourself to protect your own copyright interests against unauthorized use and infringement.

Generally speaking, a lawyer provides services to people interested in copyright protection is also involved in patent and trademark law. Obtaining a patent or a trademark actually is a rather complicated process. If you need help in obtaining a patent or protecting a trademark, you should consider hiring a capable and experienced intellectual property attorney (patent, trademark and copyright attorney).

On the other hand, protecting a copyright is not a complex process. In fact, the laws governing copyright issues and copyright protection have made it easier for a writer to establish a copyright interest in his or her work.

The steps to establish your copyright interest are easy:

1. The moment you have finished writing something -- a portion of a book, an article, an essay, a song, a story -- you've actually established a copyright interest in the work. You do not have to write an entire book to have a copyright interest in a piece of writing. You just have to write something beyond a few unconnected words.

2. You can further protect your copyright interest by putting other people on notice of that copyright interest. You can do so by placing the following indicia at the end of your written work:

© 2007 Susan Author

3. You can (but do not have to) file your copyrighted written work with the Library of Congress. By making this filing, you are entitled to a higher rate of recovery in a lawsuit involving copyright infringement and you can obtain payment of attorney fees from the party who infringed your copyright interest.

Copyrighting your written material is, in a word: easy. The bottom-line: you simply do not need to enlist the services of an intellectual property attorney. If you are an up and coming writer, your money can be better spent elsewhere.