I have cartoon characters drawn up, how do i go about copyrighting them?

Question

i wasnt sure if i could just put them up, print them on t shirts and what not....but then feared others stealing them? not that theyre THAT good !! lol!

Answer 1

They are automatically copyrighted to you as their creator. If someone else tries to claim ownership of them, you would have to demonstrate prior claim to the characters, so if you're concerned about it, sign and date the original drawings and scan them into your computer, and you can also upload them to websites like Deviantart, both of which will record the dates. If anyone tries to take your designs, you can then demonstrate that you had them first.

An older method of copyrighting art was to post it to yourself via registered mail, using the date on the letter as proof of ownership at that time, but that's not really necessary these days.

It's unlikely to happen even if your designs ARE very good. :) I don't know of anyone who has put their designs on Cafepress/Zazzle products etc who has had them stolen.

Answer 2

Mail copies of them to yourself.  Do not open the package as the postal date proves When you created the art.  same as with written manuscript.