Written works are protected automatically as soon as they are “fixed”; for example, written on paper or saved to computer disk. It is not necessary that your name appear on a work for it to be protected. Thus, your use of a pen name or pseudonym will not generally affect the copyright protection for your work. A work first published under a pseudonym may only be protected for 70 years from the year of publication, rather than 70 years from the year of the author’s death, if the author’s identity cannot be ascertained.