This does not change the fact that the writer still owns the copyright. Please do not allow yourself to be abused by such unethical editors. As soon as a work is put into fixed form, it is copyrighted. That means the moment you put your words on paper or screen or media, you own the copyright to that work. Well, I m not a professional writer or artist.
Judgment is made on whether the work has original expression.
Almost anything that comes from your mind to a piece of paper or the computer keyboard is an example of original expression. U.S. Copyright Office to obtain copyright. No, read the paragraph just before this. You can sue for infringement even if your work has not been submitted to the copyright office. However, to recover damages and legal fees, your work does have to be submitted within six months of discovering the infringment.