Under both Australian and international law, copyright protection is automatic and occurs at the moment the work is created - regardless of whether published or not.

There is no requirement to register copyright and no official registration available.

Because protection is automatic any websites that claim to offer copyright protection or registration for payment have no legal basis to provide this.

Copyright notice

Although not required it is considered prudent for copyright owners to place a copyright notice on their work. There is no set form of words and even the use of the copyright symbol © is sufficient along with the year it was created and the name of the creator. Whilst a copyright notice is not required to protect a work it may act as a deterrent to potential infringement as many people mistakenly believe that, in the absence of such a notice, they may freely use or copy the work without permission and acknowledgement.