If you’re interested in hands-on, step-by-step instructions on obtaining copyright protection, you may want to consult The Copyright Handbook, by Stephen Fishman (Nolo). A detailed description is provided in the Introduction, Section C. (Order information is at the back of this book.)
If you have access to the Internet you can find valuable information about copyright by using any of the following sites:
Nolo (www.nolo.com). Nolo offers self-help information about a wide variety of legal topics, including copyright law. (See the intellectual property topic in the Legal Encyclopedia, which incidentally includes selected entries from this part of the book.)
Findlaw (www.findlaw.com). This search engine provides a comprehensive list of copyright resources on the Web. Click “intellectual property” under the topic heading on the home page and click “copyright” from the subcategory list on the intellectual property page.
Copyright Office (www.copyright.gov). The U.S. Copyright Office’s website offers forms, circulars and a wide range of helpful copyright information.
Copyright Website (www.benedict.com). This site has articles, links and a slick design. Best of all, you can examine actual examples from real cases.