Not really. Copyright in the US at least permits a base-level of protection, and should domestic or international plagarism occur, then having the original file(s) and correspondence would be excellent evidence. &#x27;Copying ideas&#x27; like gets brought up often in lawsuits against movies are essentially non-starter cases. Ideas can&#x27;t be copyrighted, simply the telling of the story.<p>In my circle of people, self-publishing is simply still a &#x27;vanity&#x27; project and commercially not viable.<p>Being part of a reviewed, curated, and edited publication benefits the writer and reading public much in the same way that certain record labels (ex: Hospital) release materials that fit within their mold of quality.