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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/42177
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/42177
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

All the other answers are correct: copyright law protects your work even if it's not published and even if you haven't registered it in any way. This is true in the United States, the United Kingdom, and most countries around the world.

The chances of a publisher you submit your work to will steal it are beyond slim. But copyright theft suits do happen. They're not generally against publishers whose slush pile you contributed to, but it's not impossible.

Your job, God forbid you have a case that gets that far, is to prove that you created the work before the date that someone else says they created it.

The best way to prove that you had the work on a particular date is to register it with the Copyright office before any infringement takes place. [You are not required to register it](https://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-general.html) to maintain your copyright, though you will have to register it before making a claim. (My information is for the U.S. but it should be similar elsewhere as there are international copyright treaties.)

> Registration establishes a claim to copyright with the Copyright Office. An application for copyright registration can be filed by the author or owner of an exclusive right in a work, the owner of all exclusive rights, or an agent on behalf of an author or owner. An application contains three essential elements: a completed application form, a nonrefundable filing fee, and a nonreturnable deposit— that is, a copy or copies of the work being registered and “deposited” with the Copyright Office. A certificate of registration creates a public record of key facts relating to the authorship and ownership of the claimed work, including the title of the work, the author of the work, the name and address of the claimant or copyright owner, the year of creation, and information about whether the work is published, has been previously registered, or includes preexisting material. ([ref](https://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ01.pdf))

If you didn't want to spend the money to register it, old advice was to send a paper copy of your manuscript in a sealed envelope through the mail to yourself, then don't open it except in court (or during a verified procedure). The postmark on the envelope would prove the date. I'd say a sealed envelope with a CD or DVD or flash drive of the work would serve the same purpose.

Except it doesn't really work. This is sometimes called "[Poor Man’s Copyright](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poor_man%27s_copyright)" and has not been a successful defense in any case in the US, though it may [help slightly in the UK](https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/poor-mans-copyright/). The [UK copyright office](https://www.copyrightservice.co.uk/services/alternatives) also recommends registration.

**Your chances of material theft from a publisher you submit your work to are very slim. But if this worries you to the point of not wanting to submit, go ahead and register the work in whatever country you are in. This will give you peace of mind that could be worth every penny, even if you never use the legal protections.**

Original score: 0