[Logician]

Please do not misinterpret the terms of "authorship/copyright" and "legal methods of proving it". They are different.

Erwin was right when saying: "Copyright is different to trademarks or patents - you do NOT need to register it. You do NOT even need to put up a notice, though people do it to ensure others respect their copyright.". Because he was referring to "authorship/property right". In nearly all law systems you just don't NEED to proceed a legal procedure to own authorship or copyright of something you did. You own it automatically when you do it. (As a matter of fact I didn't hear any law system that follows a different rule on this matter.)

Also in many law systems there is no legal system or procudure like "copyright registration". I'm not an expert in US-law system so I have recently learned in this thread that US-law system has such an (may I say "odd") registration system but please notice that this procedure has STILL nothing to do with the authorship rights of a copyrighted material, it is just a procedure to "make proval easy for authors", that is it.

Therefore even if you don't follow this procude and register your material, you are still own its authorship, copyright and property rights(yes, even in US law system). It is made clear in FAQ pages of US Copyright Office too:

When is my work protected?
Your work is under copyright protection the moment it is created and fixed in a tangible form that it is perceptible either directly or with the aid of a machine or device.

Do I have to register with your office to be protected?
No. In general, registration is voluntary. Copyright exists from the moment the work is created. You will have to register, however, if you wish to bring a lawsuit for infringement of a U.S. work. See Circular 1, Copyright Basics, section ?Copyright Registration.?

So registration of an authorship has nothing to do with property rights, it is just a legal system to help you "prove" your right when it is argued in the future.

Besides please notice that this system is a part of US law system and applies to only USA. Also it must be noted that it is alien to many other law systems in the world so has no meaning to anybody but Americans.

So regarding the other thread you discussed the issue, Erwin is still right about his ideas despite the fact that USA has an instute named "Copyright Office".