Q&A for How to Copyright Poetry

No, they're not the same. Anyone can "claim" ownership (authorship) of poetry, a book, etc. by putting the c symbol at the bottom. Just because the poetry is yours as soon as you created the work doesn't mean that someone will not try to attempt to place claims on your work. Registering your work is PUBLIC PROOF that you are in fact the author, in case someone were to attempt to make claims on your writings.

You automatically have copyright and moral rights in any original creation you have made. You can indicate that you are enforcing that copyright by placing the (C) copyright symbol next to each poem. The thing is monitoring misuse of the poems rather than seeking to claim it. Beware paying anyone who claims to copyright things for you.

You can register the copyright of the entire work or individual poems. If you are not the author of all of the poems, it can still be registered as one "collective work".

They are either already copyrighted (by rule) or not, depending upon when and where they were created, whether they were ever published, and other circumstances. If he wrote them less than 120 years ago, and did not publish them (in the USA) they are still copyrighted and you have the legal right to register his/your ownership according to how the estate assets were transferred to heirs.

That could qualify as a suitably complicated situation that can benefit from discussing the circumstances with a professionally trained copyright attorney in your country.

You follow the steps listed above in this article, assuming you already own the copyrights.

Yes, you can. The copyright registration also extends to "derivative works", and if you edit enough differences you may want to file a new registration for poems 2.0.

If you created an original work of authorship, for your own purpose (and not for an employer) then you are the owner of the copyright. Whether you used a pencil or a computer doesn't matter.