This is in part a followup to [this comment](https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/64470/can-a-so-small-as-to-be-reduced-to-a-dot-confer-any-legal-protection#comment135391_64494) in which a user wrote:



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> “fixation” broadly depends on publication. How else d’you think fixation is established?
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In a later comment the same user wrote:



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> In your context fixation is a fact, but it's also irrelevant. What matters is solely what can be proved, which is publication.
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Is that correct? Is a work copyrighted on fixation or publication? What's the difference? How is creation of a protected work proved in court? And what does "fixation" mean?


This is intended to be a multi-jurisdiction question.



Is a work copyrighted on fixation or publication? What's the difference? How is it proved?