Many people have developed their own favourite misunderstanding of this simple concept. Most people are convinced that Copyright is a complicated legal issue.

On the contrary, Copyright couldn’t be simpler: Copyright is exactly what it says it is: it is the right to copy; that is, the legal right to copy an original work.

Why can't I send an envelope to myself?

If you do this you can be accused of tampering with it if it is in your possession. With the First Protection Envelope system it is not in your possession, and you have clear audited system showing your creation through to the lodgement in the secure vault.

How do I acquire the right to copy?

Copyright is a legal right which must be acquired properly. That usually means paying the author a licence fee and a small royalty for each copy made. Unfortunately, over the years, a variety of unacceptable schemes have been introduced, designed to part authors from their rights without payment. Many of these schemes sound plausible and authoritative and may appear at first sight to carry the force of law; unfortunately, they don’t.

How do I recognise the difference?

Generally speaking, the bona fides of a Copyright arrangement can be gauged from the answer to one simple question: How much is being offered for the Copyright?. Often the answer will be that a fee is being paid for the work, so the Copyright belongs to the buyer. It doesn’t, except in some very special and restricted circumstances.

Copyright is a Separate Consideration:

The author is entitled to be paid for the expense and effort of making a work, but the Copyright is a separate consideration, and must be paid for separately. Any other scheme will fail, and the Copyright could be extinguished. It is not only the creative professionals whose work is under constant threat of unfair exploitation; the same applies to any work of creative originality, no matter the status of the author. Copyright is no respecter of age; a three year old prodigy may validly create Copyright works.