Legal Question in Business Law in North Carolina

You don't. Copyright is only for works (either written works like a books or sound recordings - like a song or video). For ideas, you need a patent - either a use patent or a design patent.

A use patent would be for a new product that you are inventing. A design patent is where you take an existing product and do something else to it - add a new feature.

You can learn about getting a patent or a provisional patent at www.uspto.gov - assuming that office of the US federal government is still up and functioning.

However, your question suggests that you have a lot more homework to do to educate yourself and protect yourself. A good basic place to start might be www.nolo.com and read about patents there. Once you graduate from that go to www.asktheinventors.com, www.inventored.com or http://www.howstuffworks.com/patent.htm. Then once you graduate from that, get "Patent It Yourself" by David Pressman and books on patenting by Richard Levy "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Cashing in on Your Inventions" and "Inventing and Patenting Sourcebook."

If you do your homework, you will begin to realize that you may need help and you should get a consult with a patent attorney. Before you disclose your idea to any manufacturer who would make the item or market it, you will want them to sign a non-disclosure agreement. And stay away from the invention scams. If you have to pay thousands of dollars to some company to patent something, chances are its a scam. So do your researching first.