My life story. All in all, a good attitude.
Writing is an art, but also a business.
In order to protect your business interests, as well as retain control over what you create, you need to know about copyright law. Like most government sites, it's well organized and fairly comprehensive. A link on the site assists you in copyrighting your work. There are a lot of misunderstandings about what a copyright is, and what it can and cannot do. I highly recommend this page.