A few more notes about copyright and how it works in most jurisdictions:

Creative works are copyrighted from the moment of creation. You do not have to register your copyright in order to own your work. However, it is nearly impossible to prosecute a violator unless you have registered it. In the United States, registering a copyright costs (at this time) $35 through the U.S. Copyright Office ( http://www.copyright.gov ). If you can call the work you did a collection, you can register all of the work you did in a single year for that same fee. There are some conditions on what can be considered a collection, though, so do some research first before filing. The CO's website is fairly informative, so you probably won't need the assistance of a lawyer. Although if you anticipate a significant level of income from your creative activity, a lawyer is definitely a good idea.

Most nations have treaties that stipulate that a copyright administered by one signatory is valid in all of them. So if you register your copyright with the US Copyright Office, it is also valid in the UK, Germany, India, etc. Of course, some nations are better at enforcement than others, and there are still countries that do not participate in the intellectual properties treaties. If someone is violating your copyright in Belarus, you're just out of luck in most cases. In Russia, they'll assure you that they'll take care of it, but chances are good that they never will.