I don't want to spend the money for a copyright; Can't I just mail my script to myself?

Dear Cheap,

OMG, if one more person says that this is okay to do I'm going to continue to drink myself into a drunken stupor every day.  So basically,  I'm pretty much guaranteed to be always wasted before breakfast.

NO!  NO!  NO! (do you get it?) - you CANNOT mail yourself a copy of your script and have any legal copyright coverage.  Think about it, idiot.  How easy is it to mess with any envelope and slip in a new version of your script?  Even if you're just plain stupid you can manage to defeat any tape job - and besides that, there's no proof (proof being the operative word here) that the way you currently have the envelope is the way you received it.  It's just your word.

But, Hack, it has an "official" postmark and date cancelled stamp on it.  That's proof.

Shut up now and I won't kill you.

Just trust me on this - there is no  legal coverage (NONE!) of copyright when you mail yourself something.  It's called the "Poorman's Copyright" and it's worth just that - nothing.

But as with all things legal, check with an attorney - don't take the word of a wasted a-hole like me.

Hack