[ApK]

My problem with all the "first published" or "first released" schemes is that they ignore the important aspect of copyright that gives the creator control to NOT allow the work to be published or released. Just an off the cuff example: I write a memoir with explosive and incriminating info about important people I worked with. I don't want it published until those people are dead. My copyright begins the moment I put that work in tangible form, and says that my editor, my children, my lawyer, the banker with access to the safe deposit box I keep it in, whatever, have no right to publish it against my wishes. If my copyright doesn't start until published or released, I lose that control.