Your content, both graphics and text, must be owned by you (original work) or you must have permission to reprint the material from the owner or original creator.

The general rule about copyrights is that anything you create is immediately and automatically copyrighted by you. You don't actually have to do anything. Copyright protection subsists from the time the work is created in fixed form. The copyright in the work of authorship immediately becomes the property of the author who created the work. Only the author or those deriving their rights through the author can rightfully claim copyright.

The myth about creating a copyright by mailing something to yourself and not opening the envelope, sometimes called "a poor man's copyright," is just that, a myth.

Copyright is a form of protection provided by the laws of the United States (title 17, U. S. Code) to the authors of “original works of authorship,” including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works. This protection is available to both published and unpublished works. Section 106 of the 1976 Copyright Act generally gives the owner of copyright the exclusive right to do and to authorize others to do the following:

• To reproduce the work in copies or phonorecords;
  
• To prepare derivative works based upon the work;
  
• To distribute copies or phonorecords of the work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by rental, lease, or lending;
  
• To perform the work publicly, in the case of literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and motion pictures and other audiovisual works;
  
• To display the work publicly, in the case of literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and pictorial, graphic, or sculptural works, including the individual images of a motion picture or other audiovisual work; and
  
• In the case of sound recordings, to perform the work publicly by means of a digital audio transmission.
  

  The way in which copyright protection is secured is frequently misunderstood. No publication or registration or other action in the Copyright Office is required to secure copyright. There are, however, certain definite advantages to registration.
  

  Copyright is secured automatically when the work is created, and a work is “created” when it is fixed in a copy or phonorecord for the first time. “Copies” are material objects from which a work can be read or visually perceived either directly or with the aid of a machine or device, such as books, manuscripts, sheet music, film, videotape, or microfilm. “Phonorecords” are material objects embodying fixations of sounds (excluding, by statutory definition, motion picture soundtracks), such as cassette tapes, CDs, or LPs. Thus, for example, a song (the “work”) can be fixed in sheet music (“copies”) or in phonograph disks (“phonorecords”), or both. If a work is prepared over a period of time, the part of the work that is fixed on a particular date constitutes the created work as of that date.
  

  In general, copyright registration is a legal formality intended to make a public record of the basic facts of a particular copyright. However, registration is not a condition of copyright protection. Even though registration is not a requirement for protection, the copyright law provides several inducements or advantages to encourage copyright owners to make registration. Among these advantages are the following:
  

  • Registration establishes a public record of the copyright claim.
    Before an infringement suit may be filed in court, registration is necessary for works of U.S. origin.
    
  • If made before or within 5 years of publication, registration will establish prima facie evidence in court of the validity of the copyright and of the facts stated in the certificate.
    
  • If registration is made within 3 months after publication of the work or prior to an infringement of the work, statutory damages and attorney's fees will be available to the copyright owner in court actions. Otherwise, only an award of actual damages and profits is available to the copyright owner.
  
  

  Registration may be made at any time within the life of the copyright. Unlike the law before 1978, when a work has been registered in unpublished form, it is not necessary to make another registration when the work becomes published, although the copyright owner may register the published edition, if desired.
  

  It's a good idea to register your eBook with the Library of Congress. The registration fee is $45 and legally establishes you as the copyright holder of your literary work.
  

  I'm not a lawyer and have never played one on TV so I can't offer you professional advice on all the copyright, permissions, and intellectual property rights issues associated with creating, producing, and selling information products. For answers to questions on this topic here are a few suggested websites:
  

  • The Library of Congress offers extensive information on copyright (explanation, use, and fair use) at: http://www.copyright.gov/
    
  • Stanford site on Copyright and Fair Use: http://fairuse.stanford.edu/Copyright_and_Fair_Use_Overview/index.html
    
  • There is a good overview on intellectual property under the heading Introduction to the Permissions Process: http://fairuse.stanford.edu/Copyright_and_Fair_Use_Overview/chapter1/1-c.html
    
  • The W3 (World Wide Web Consortium) has an excellent collection of online resources that explain current IP laws and issues at: http://www.w3.org/IPR/