new to comic business and need help with bussiness and copyright

[Cantona]

Hi guys

i'm new to the comic business and furthermore i'm not so smartl and don't understand many things in relation to bussiness and copyright.

I've just created a comic which i will launch on line for free, the idea is to try make some if any money through clothing, advertising or the hope a film company will purchase the rights for one day(i know it's a dream!).

I launching this comic in Japanese, Chinese and english (USA/England) and hope to appeal to these markets.

COPYRIGHT:

Although I've attended intellectual property disscussion at British Libary, I'm none the clearer and need some advices, thank you all in advance.

i've been told i don't need to register copyright as they are automatically given upon creation.

like i said, i not intelligent with these things, so please tell me if this is correct as i don'y understand the technical terms used on official websites:

1) my characters, scirpt and visuals all belong to me and automatically protected so require no registration and applies to the countries i hope to launch in?

2) the t-shirt, logos and prints require no registration even in the countries i hope to launch in?

what confuses me most is that people who write scripts send to copyright office in usa and some clothes designers patent their designs, so why if they are automatically covered by copyright and why a copyright office exist in USA???

BUSINESS:

Also when i register my comic bussiness with companies house, since it's free, should i make another company for clothing and another to deal with advertising? I ask because you have to tick boxes dependiong what your bussiness covers and maybe for the future it is many things....what are your advices please.

thanks you so much for you patience and help and forgive me for being naive as i'm new to this and not so smart.

is there someone i can speak to personally for further advice or consulation? thanks again

[Jack the R]

You're making this too hard. Unless your comic looks like Romantically Apocalyptic, it will be years, if ever, before you have enough audience to move swag.

[maverick]

People (or publishing companies) will sometimes send a manuscript or book to the USA copyright office as a formality. It protects them from someone blatantly copying or reproducing material without their permission. It's not completely necessary, but something worth considering you are a legit company with decent cash flow.

A patent is something completely different.

I don't know what "companies house" is. Is that a UK thing? But essentially you shouldn't need more than one company to operate your business.

Have you considered taking some business or business law classes?

[nickmarino]

You're making this too hard. Unless your comic looks like Romantically Apocalyptic, it will be years, if ever, before you have enough audience to move swag.

Exactly.

Honestly, Cantona, your best bet is to make the comics and see if you even enjoy the process. Approach comics as a creative medium first and then figure out the business stuff as you go. Trying to approach comics as a business first will only end up discouraging you.

[Ray Dillon]

I've never been one to start off with small thinking, so I'm going to encourage you to continue thinking BIG! International web comic, merchandising, the whole shebang, but ground yourself, too. You need a solid CORE for those ancillary things to even exist, let alone thrive. And your core needs to be the story and characters within your comic. Make that your focus and the absolute most important thing that you get up and do every day. After that, build the franchise around it. Do it smart, simple, and clean, because that's what people gravitate to.

As for copyrights, it is definitely important to safeguard yourself against what could happen in the future once you become successful, but for right now, you're fine just creating your comics and putting Comic Title © You, 2011 on everything and everwhere. Make sure you keep plenty of documentation about when and where your ideas have formed. As one starts to gain steam, then maybe do a copyright and or trademark, but right now you need to define your characters and properties so that you even have the information to file for trademark.

Don't worry about it too much right now. Just focus on developing your property and you'll know when it's time to really move on the legal stuff. Just don't make it publicly known that you don't have it official ©™®.

If you do happen to start up a company, I recommend an LLC or an S Corporation. But again, you don't really need that too much right now.

Best of luck! Ignore anyone telling you to take it slow. Go full steam ahead and create the next big thing!! Keep us updated!