copyright-creative-worklisted

# Copyright Your Creative Work ## Standing disclaimer (say this, don't bury it) This skill is **informational, not legal advice.** It does not create an attorney–client relationship. It is **US-focused** — copyright law is jurisdiction-specific, and your results differ outside the US. Real protection comes from **registration**, and when stakes are high (money, disputes, anything you'd hate to lose), from a **lawyer**. When in doubt, escalate. This skill is for protecting and managing **your own** creative work. It is **not** a tool for reproducing, checking, or assessing other people's copyrighted material. ## Core principle Copyright exists **automatically** the moment you fix an original work in a tangible form (record the track, type the lyrics, save the photo). But automatic copyright has almost no teeth. **Registration** is what lets you sue and what unlocks statutory damages. And for AI-assisted work, **only the parts a human authored are protectable at all.** So the job is rarely "do I have copyright" — it's **"what do I do next."** This skill is decision-oriented: find your situation, take the next action. ## Start here — what are you trying to do? ```dot digraph next_action { rankdir=TB; q [label="What's the goal right now?" shape=diamond]; protect [label="Protect / register a finished work" shape=box]; release [label="About to release or publish something" shape=box]; ai [label="AI-assisted (Suno) song — is it mine?" shape=box]; collab